Stepping Stones
by Joan Powers
Summary: Sequel to Grieving Time As Eden Advance continues their trek to New Pacifica, without Devon, they are plagued with nightmares. They also stumble across a discovery which may provide answers about the mysteries of Planet G889 and possibly lead to a cure
1. Chapter 1

Stepping Stones

By Joan Powers

Chapter 1 The Memorial Part 1

**Author's notes:** This is a reposting of a story originally written in 1995/96. Originally it was posted in sections; here the story is complete but organized slightly differently. It is part of the series nominated for the best Earth 2 series of stories. It follows "Grieving Time". "Boundaries" and "The Road Not Chosen" continue this series.

(1) This story takes place after "All about Eve" and my story which immediately followed that episode called "Grieving Time". The story attempts to answer some of the questions raised in "All about Eve".

(2) "Grieving Time" took place two weeks after Devon was placed in suspended animation, when the group had left the space ship and resumed their journey to New Pacifica. It primarily dealt with John Danziger coming to terms with his feelings about Devon.

(3) Special thanks to Chris, Alyssa and Vicki for their greatly appreciated input and support!

**Type:** Drama, D/D angst

**Summary:** As Eden Advance continues their trek to New Pacifica, without Devon, they are plagued with nightmares. They also stumble across a discovery which may provide answers about the mysteries of Planet G889 and possibly lead to a cure for Devon's illness. **Sequel** to Grieving Time.

**Timeline:** Post "All about Eve", direct continuation of my story "Grieving Time".

**Rating:** K+

(Voice of Bess)

_We'd been on the road continuing our journey to New Pacifica for over a month. Forty days since we'd left Devon in suspended animation on the spaceship. With each kilometer that passed, increasing the distance between the spaceship and the Eden Colonists, our hearts grew heavier and our spirits dragged. Group morale was low. We were devastated by Devon's illness and heartbroken about having to leave her behind. We were still trying to fill in the gaps created by her absence. _

_In addition, our encounter with Eve had unpleasantly reminded us of the Council's presence on this planet, and Elizabeth's warnings that we couldn't live here continued to preoccupy us as well. _

_In the meantime, Julia continued to search for a way to cure Devon, but thus far her efforts had been fruitless. Uly and Alonzo hadn't been successful either in their attempts to enlist the Terrians' assistance in healing her. _

_As our hopes for saving Devon in the near future grew fainter, we also found it difficult to sustain the vision of New Pacifica colony without her. Most of us prayed that the colony ship would arrive with the appropriate equipment to diagnose her illness or that this mysterious planet would somehow reveal to us whatever it was that we were missing. _

_Lately I'd been experiencing a new problem. I was having recurrent nightmares about people dying. They frightened me so badly that I began to dread going to sleep at night. Were the dreams simply a result of my subconscious reflecting on some of the horrors that we had recently experienced or were they visions revealing our future? Maybe Devon's illness was only the beginning of the planet rejecting us all. _

XXXXXXX

True struggled as she attempted to collapse the tent that she shared with her father and Uly. Due to her small size, it was a battle, but she was determined to win. After several minutes of wrestling with the nylon monster, she grinned with satisfaction as she tamed the beast and placed it into the Trans-Rover. At least her Dad had one less thing to worry about now.

He seldom smiled anymore and when he did, it was strained. He seemed preoccupied most of the time. True wished she could make all his problems go away, but she had no idea where to start. She was just a kid. At least he was sleeping better than he had been during those first few days after they had left the spaceship. She beamed with pride - she and Morgan had made a difference. Her father was still hesitant to talk about Devon, but he seemed to have resolved some issues within himself.

Yet, he and Uly often had nightmares. Occasionally she woke during the night to hear one of them murmuring in his sleep. Last night had been worse than usual. Uly woke up screaming and had scared them half to death. It'd taken a long time for them to calm him down.

In fact, she herself had a disturbing dream, similar to one she had the night before. She wasn't exactly sure what it was about but it had left her with a creepy feeling. She'd gotten up early to rinse in a nearby stream to try to rid herself of that icky sensation. It was as if her body was being physically changed in the dream. Some sort of viscous substance had been oozing out of her pores, coating her skin. She shuddered and decided not to think about it.

XXXXXX

"Come on Morgan, get a move on it" Bess insisted. "You know Danziger wants us on the road soon - we're all ready behind everyone else." She plunked down on a nearby crate, impatiently glaring at her husband. Normally she was more tolerant of Morgan's lackadaisical style, but she wasn't in a forgiving mood today. She had another one of those awful dreams. It was so disturbing that it woke her in the middle of the night and she had been unable to fall back asleep. She realized she wasn't being fair to Morgan, so she tried to look the other way as he scrambled to get his gear together.

She could never remember precisely what had happened in the dream - just an image of people suffering, in agony...possibly dying. Their cries of pain were etched in her mind. Was it the Eden colonists? As hard as she tried, she just couldn't tell.

She shook her head trying to rid herself of the image. _It's just a dream,_ she attempted to reassure herself. But Bess was aware that on planet G889 dreams were often more than they appeared to be. Fear filled the pit of her stomach, tying it up in knots as she analyzed and re-analyzed the implications of the dream, anticipating the worst. Perhaps when she was feeling less irritable, she would ask her husband if he had a similar experience.

XXXXXX

Dr. Heller pushed back the flap of the Med Tent then walked towards Bess. Bess offered a weak "Hello" out of courtesy, which wasn't acknowledged as the Doctor strode past. Julia was preoccupied with some new theories regarding diagnosing Devon's illness. The young doctor took it upon herself to bear the entire burden of responsibility for identifying a cure for her. She was convinced that eventually she would have to come across the answer to their problem. Failure was not an option in her mind. She'd been pushing herself mercilessly ever since Devon had collapsed.

Many evenings after the group had stopped to set up camp, the doctor labored for hours testing out new hypotheses, re-examining Devon's cell slides, pouring over what little information they were able to collect from Franklin and Elizabeth's computer, and continuing to examine the therapeutic properties of G889 specimens which she had the children collect for her. She'd become so immersed in her mission that she hardly paid attention to those around her any more.

"Julia" Alonzo called over to her, "You didn't get any breakfast. Better hurry, we're leaving soon."

"I'm not hungry" she flatly commented as she continued walking past him.

XXXXX

Uly was handing supplies up to Yale which he stowed on the Trans-Rover. As they completed their task, the Teacher jumped down from the vehicle and said, "Thanks for your help Uly." He put a hand on the boy's shoulder and steered him away from the bustle of activity at the camp. He commented, "I hear you had a bad dream last night."

The boy nodded. Since his mother'd been absent, Uly hadn't been very talkative.

"Do you want to tell me about it?" Yale prompted. Danziger and True had been up with the boy for over an hour that night trying to calm him down. Uly had refused to comment about the dream. John was worried and asked Yale to probe deeper if he could.

Yet the boy was still resistant, shaking his head towards him. Yale felt a bit hurt, the boy had always confided in him. Lately Uly had started to include Danziger in that circle as well, but now he wasn't opening up to either of them.

_I'm losing my family. First Devon, now Uly_, he thought. Then he chided himself for being too dramatic. _This must be part of getting old - being overly sentimental._ Perhaps Uly would open up later, when the dream didn't seem as threatening.

XXXXXX

Finally the camp was struck down and the vehicles were loaded. The Eden crew assembled to discuss their route and assign vehicle drivers. Morgan was not pleased with the assignments and complained, "How come Julia gets to ride again? That's not fair."

Julia grimaced, "Fine, I'll walk then."

Danziger glared at Morgan, attempting to exercise his self control to refrain from calling him every rotten epithet he could think of. It was common knowledge that practically the only sleep Julia was getting lately was while they were traveling. "Listen up buddy," Danziger began, malevolence dripping from his voice.

Sensing imminent danger for her husband, Bess quickly interceded by stepping between the two men and grabbing her husband by the arm, "Morgan, you want to walk with me, don't you?" She elbowed him in his side.

He conceded, somewhat intimidated by his wife and Danziger's wrath, "Okay, I'll walk. No big deal. I just think we're all getting tired and we need a break. We've been traveling for more than a week straight now. Even Devon would let us rest every seven days or so."

"Yeah" Baines added, "We need a chance to recharge. When do we get a break?" Others were beginning to chime in as well.

"Hold it" Danziger spoke authoritatively, "We're all tired, I know. Let's see if we can make it to this lake that's on Yale's survey map. We'll have to push ourselves to cover the distance in one day but that ought to be a good spot to make camp for a day or two." The group was somewhat pacified.

The caravan started and Danziger walked with Yale and the children. While it was not yet summer, the temperature was rising and the sun beat down relentlessly on the travelers. Many Eden Advance members sported sun burnt faces and arms. Luckily, Julia'd been able to concoct a sun block lotion to prevent further injury to the crew.

The hilly terrain provided some lovely scenery - tall pines and some deciduous shade trees along with many breathtaking views.

For the most part, Danziger had made a smooth transition into the role of group leader. No objections were raised to his statement that he had promised Devon that he would lead the group - no one else wanted the job. In fact, most of the Eden crew were relieved that some one was willing to take charge of the situation. Few questioned his authority since he'd all ready been performing some of the duties he currently assumed. Yet, even those tasks seemed like more work to him without Devon.

He was relieved that Bess had intervened to prevent him from making a fool of himself in front of the group. He'd been ready to give Morgan a good chewing out. Even though he'd occasionally proven himself in times of crises, that guy still got on his nerves. Danziger's habit of speaking his mind regardless of who it offended always had gotten him into trouble. He was surprised he'd been able to quell the potential mob scene, although it was only due to Yale's prior suggestion of taking a break at the lake.

The responsibilities of leadership weighed heavily upon John Danziger. He was continually preoccupied with worries. While the vehicles had been running well, it would probably be a good idea for him to do some routine maintenance at this next stop to insure their continued performance. Fortunately, he didn't have to be overly concerned about food and water at present, the surrounding area amply supplied for both of those needs. In addition, Bess and her assistants had been eagerly collecting and preserving various food specimens as they traveled to build up their reserve supply.

John was hopeful that they could push their way through these hills in order to reach lower ground before winter. With a little luck, the climate at the lower elevations would be warmer and permit continued travel so they could arrive at New Pacifica within several months.

Even though things were going fairly smoothly, Danziger wasn't entirely comfortable with the idea of having a group of fourteen people looking up to him for guidance. Sometimes it gave him chills. And once they reached New Pacifica, he had no idea how to set up a colony. He wasn't even supposed to have set foot on this planet. But that didn't matter any more. He feared that he had gotten in over his head.

Thankfully, Yale was familiar with the details of Devon's plans and was a terrific source of information. He had been invaluable thus far. Each day John grew to appreciate Devon's devotion to the Teacher even more. They had to make it to New Pacifica - for her.

Likewise, he had the children to look after and worry about as well. True had been pretty much her rambunctious self and had helped him out immensely. He monitored Uly closely, knowing that the boy was dealing with a heavy burden.

Finally, there was Devon, who never fully left his thoughts.

XXXXXXX

The group pushed themselves to reach the lake by night fall. After setting up camp, many crew members who were drenched with sweat and covered with dust after the day's exertion, decided to go swimming. The cool refreshing water had a soothing effect on the exhausted colonists.

Fully clothed and completely soaked, Bess was returning to her tent to find some dry clothes when she saw Alonzo sitting pensively on a log nearby camp. She joined him, "Hi - water's great. Why don't you grab Julia and go for a romantic star light swim?" He looked terribly unhappy. She wasn't sure if it was her place, but her mothering instincts took over, "What's wrong?"

He turned away from her. She took a guess, "Julia's been pushing herself awfully hard, hasn't she?"

Alonzo broke down, "She thinks if she doesn't find a cure for Devon that she's a failure. I've tried to convince her that she's being irrational. We all want Devon back with us, but Julia is only human. Nobody expects her to be superwoman and solve everything." He rammed his fist into his thigh with frustration. "She won't listen to me. I've told her this over and over and she's shutting me out. She's becoming all Doctor Heller and not my Julia."

"Why is she taking this so personally Alonzo? When we were all so sick, Julia was working just as hard, but she didn't seem as emotionally on edge as she is now."

Alonzo agreed with her observations, "You're right. Maybe it's just too much at once for her. She's been working non-stop on this problem for over a month. That could account for her obsessive behavior." He also suspected that Reily's appearance had been a very unpleasant reminder to Julia of her past. Perhaps she felt that she needed to re-establish her loyalty to the group.

"You need to march into that tent and sweep her off her feet. Save her from herself."

Alonzo laughed dryly, "If only it were that simple."

XXXXXXX

Several Eden crew members were still swimming in the cool lake water. True had tried to liven up the party by initiating several splashing fights, though most of the others were too tired to retaliate.

Worn out, Danziger pulled himself out of the water and sat on the shore beside Uly. Since some of the others were still in the lake, John felt secure enough about True to turn his attention to Devon's child.

"Water feels good, doesn't it?" John asked.

"Yeah" he responded. Uly seemed withdrawn and tense.

Attempting to get the boy to open up, he asked, "Was your nightmare about your Mom?" He denied it. "Come on. You can tell me about it. It won't seem as bad then." John urged.

The boy met his glance and decided it was okay to tell some of it. Very softly, he said, "I think the Terrians are mad at me."

Danziger was confused, "What? Why?"

"When they wouldn't heal my Mom, I got mad at them and told them to leave me alone" Uly explained. "They wouldn't even let me talk to her on the Dream Plane - they said her spirit was too weak."

Danziger was at a loss. He understood the Terrians less than almost anyone in the group. What words could he offer the boy? "Do you think they were telling you the truth?" he asked.

The boy's face became flushed. Since the Terrians had healed him, he had automatically assumed that they could heal his Mom as well. But in his heart, he believed that his Terrian brothers wouldn't lie to him and he realized that perhaps he had been mistaken. "I just want my Mom back"

"We all do Uly" John concurred. "But you've said that you were mad at the Terrians, why do you think they are mad at you?"

Uly somewhat hesitantly explained, "In my dream last night the Terrians acted strangely towards me. Before, I've always felt comfortable when they've contacted me. This felt different - like they were screaming at me, though I couldn't understand what they were saying. It was horrible."

The boy pressed his face against Danziger's shoulder and the older man put an arm around the shaking child. Uly was not able to share any more details with him.

XXXXXX

At daybreak, Danziger and Yale were sitting by the camp fire, discussing plans to send out a scout to check out the next leg of the journey. Alonzo strolled by, "For a day of rest, you guys are sure up early."

"You might say the same thing yourself, Solace" Danziger replied.

"Me? Nah, I just finished my shift at guard duty. You want me to take the ATV ahead?" he offered.

"Maybe later. Get some rest first." As an afterthought, John added, "Alonzo, have you been having any Terrian dreams lately?"

"To tell you the truth, I haven't been sleeping well so I haven't made contact for the last few days." Concern about Julia kept him awake at night.

"Uly's been having some bad dreams which he thinks are from the Terrians." Alonzo looked puzzled. "He's pretty scared," John explained. "Could you try to make contact and see if you can get any insight?"

"Sure" Alonzo immediately agreed. That poor kid. First to lose his Mom and now this. But why would the Terrians torment Uly? That didn't make any sense. He would be sure to contact the Dream Plane as soon as possible. Maybe he'd even get Julia to give him a Sedaderm. He departed in the direction of the Med Tent.

"So he had another nightmare?" Yale asked.

"Yeah," John described to Yale what Uly had shared with him.

"Let's hope Alonzo can get some answers." Changing the subject, he commented, "John, I'm getting very concerned about group morale. People are tired and irritable - but most importantly, they seem to be losing hope."

"Do you feel any differently?" John frankly asked.

Yale admitted that he felt similarly, "I know you and I haven't completely given up the hope that we will be reunited with Devon someday, but it right now it seems difficult to get motivated each day. I sense the others are feeling this way as well. Bess and I were talking the other day about this situation. We were thinking - perhaps we need a memorial service for Devon to provide closure."

"What are you talking about? She's not dead - why would we want to do that?" John snapped at him.

"It would be a chance to officially recognize our cares and concerns and honor Devon. We could each take a turn to share about her. It might be the glue this camp needs to hold it together. It would also be a good opportunity to express other grievances as well. People seem to be preoccupied with matters which they are keeping to themselves."

Danziger was resistant, "If you want to do it, count me out."

"But if you don't attend, others might make the same decision and it wouldn't work. We need to do this together," Yale insisted.

"I can't. It would be like admitting she was dead and I can't do that." He didn't particularly relish the idea of talking about her in front of the entire Eden crew either.

"We're not saying she's dead, John. We will be honoring her memory and acknowledging our fears. Sometimes if concerns are shared, it helps people deal with them more constructively. Each one of us has been affected by all that has happened within the past months. I think we should try."

"You'll have to tell me how it goes." That was the end of that subject, as far as Danziger was concerned.

XXXXXXXXX

So far, True was enjoying her day off. She had slept in late, then quickly performed her chores. Since Yale and Bess were busy planning some type of service for Devon, she had the rest of the day to do as she pleased, so she pestered Uly until she convinced him to go to the lake with her. They enjoyed splashing around in the water. Then they decided to do a little exploring as well. Her father wouldn't have to know all the details of their excursion. As they climbed over a small bluff, Uly cried to True, "Wow! Look at this!"

TBC


	2. The Memorial Part 2

Stepping Stones

By Joan Powers

Chapter 2 The Memorial Part 2

Bess stuck her head into the Med Tent where Julia was looking at a video monitor which displayed some numbers. "Hello"

"You startled me," Julia claimed. "What do you want?" she asked curtly.

"I have a few things I need to discuss with you." Rather uncomfortably she glanced at the small fibrous device which the Doctor held in her hand, "What is that?"

"It's the biostat-implant we recovered from Eben."

"Isn't that what killed her?" Bess asked, wide-eyed.

"Yes it is Bess."

"Julia, is there any chance that they can make us sick again?" Bess seemed genuinely fearful. Maybe this was the fate her dream was prophesying.

"Unfortunately if Eve wants to jack up the frequency again, we could very well be at her mercy. But, I don't think we need to be overly concerned about that. Eve was losing control because of the virus and she needed us to repair her. Now that she is back to being fully operational, she is aware of the importance of Uly being the Terrian link. Since the Council believes that the only way for them to control the planet will be through him, I don't think she would attempt to eliminate us in that manner because she would risk killing Uly as well. He's much too valuable to her."

"However, I am concerned about the implants themselves. I've been analyzing their composition by studying this one and I've identified some areas where mechanical malfunctions or disruptions in their connections to our neurons could lead to illness for their host. I've been trying to simulate models on the computer to explore this idea to determine if that might account for Devon's illness." The doctor was speaking rapidly - caught up in her newest idea.

Bess didn't fully understand what she was talking about and still looked concerned, "Don't you think you need a break? You've been working awfully hard."

"I have to move on a new idea once I get it. I don't want to forget any details. Don't you see, this could be it." she emphasized. Though she was exhausted, hope that she was on her way to identifying the cure was sufficient to sustain her.

Bess realized she wasn't getting through to the doctor, so she mentioned her last order of business, "Julia, we're having a camp meeting tonight, sort of a memorial service for Devon. It's very important that you attend."

"Memorial service? You mean a funeral?" she asked with stark terror in her voice.

"No. We want to honor Devon and try to get everybody talking again. If we all share our doubts and fears, perhaps we can cope better."

Julia wasn't especially interested, particularly since this seemed like one of the best leads she had. Results from her initial simulation had supported her hypothesis.

"Please come" Bess simply stated. "It means a lot to the group."

_To the group_, Julia thought. They hadn't seemed like a cohesive unit for some time. Shock from recent events such as their sickness, Eben's death, Elizabeth's warnings of doom and Devon's collapse had caused people to become withdrawn and gather in protective groups of two's and three's where they had begun to dwell upon their insecurities. Yet this group had provided her with a genuine sense of family which she had never known before. They had taken her back even after she had betrayed them. She couldn't let them down.

Julia absently agreed, "Okay, come and get me when it's time."

XXXXXXX

Dr. Heller was growing more excited. Another test simulating the effect of a specific biostat-implant malfunction on the human body had correlated with some of Devon's symptoms. She became absorbed in her work, and didn't hear Danziger enter the tent.

"Anything new?" he asked, trying not to sound too hopeful.

"I have a great lead." she exclaimed then proceeded to explain. "Here's my new theory. The biostat-implant in Devon is undergoing some type of mechanical malfunction or faulty connection with some neurons which in turn is affecting her body. I've done some simulations to project how these specific malfunctions might affect the human body. Look at this." She directed his attention to some information on a video monitor.

Danziger put his hand on her forearm and gently interrupted, "Julia, I'm sorry. I don't mean to poke a hole in your theory. I know you've spent a lot of time and effort on this problem. But it can't be that. Devon doesn't have a biostat-implant."

Julia stared at him in disbelief. "What are you talking about? How would you know this?" she accused.

"She told me. She said she didn't realize that she didn't have one until we accessed Eve to fix the virus. While you and I and Yale were lying on the ground in pain, Devon wasn't affected."

"How could you know this? You would have been in too much pain to notice that she wasn't." Julia was confused.

"She told me, later."

Feeling betrayed, Julia cried, "Why didn't she tell me?"

"Because she didn't think it was important until it was too late."

She was becoming more agitated, "When did she tell you this?"

"Does it matter?" She'd never believe him and he didn't feel comfortable sharing his rather unusual VR experience with her.

"Why didn't you tell me this before?"

"I don't know Julia. With everything that's been going on, I just forgot," he apologized.

"Are you absolutely sure?" Julia stressed. Since she had been informed by most of Eden group - colonists and crew, that they had been doubled over in agony while Eve was being repaired, she had assumed that everyone had the biostat-implants, including Devon. And with her currently available information, she had no manner in which to confirm his statement.

"Yeah. I'm sorry Julia. I want her back just as badly as you do. But I'm positive."

XXXXXXX

Danziger climbed up a small hill and sat on the ground to watch the sunset. At least, that was his excuse for leaving camp. The truth was that he had seen the others starting to gather for their meeting or service or whatever Bess and Yale were calling it now and he wanted nothing to do with it. Even if the subject matter wasn't so close to home, all this talk about feelings was not going to accomplish much of anything except making people feel uncomfortable.

And, once again True and Uly had slipped off and not returned to camp. Sometimes they were impossible to keep track of. He planned to go searching for them soon before it got any darker. Yet, he paused actually enjoying the quiet of the setting. He breathed deeply to attempt to mirror the peacefulness of the surroundings.

His conversation with Julia came to mind. While he didn't understand how he had been able to contact Devon using that VR set, he knew without a doubt that her words were true. If Devon said she didn't have a biostat-implant, he believed her. It had been good to see her. Once he had been able to acknowledge that he cared about Devon and he missed her, he found he was able to cope better with day-to-day living.

He longed to see her again, but he refused to enlist Morgan Martin's assistance. While he feared he would not have the opportunity to see her until they found a cure for her, he remembered her final words to him before she faded away, "I know I can count on you. You mean a great deal to me John." The look in her eyes had been imprinted on his memory.

"All right Danziger, why haven't you been answering your gear?" Yale asked irritably.

Feeling like a guilty ten year old, John looked down rather sheepishly as the Teacher noticed that he had not even brought his gear with him.

"I thought you were going to work on that. What if something had happened to the children? We need to be able to find you" he stressed.

Danziger avoided the man's gaze, "Are the kids back?"

"Yes, they returned. They were filthy, claiming they had some sort of an adventure. I immediately sent them down to the lake to clean up, so they'll have to enlighten us later - it's time for our meeting" Yale proclaimed and lent John a hand as if to help him up. John ignored him.

"John, I know you don't want to do this, but you really don't have a choice. You have to think of the welfare of the entire group, not just your own feelings. As the group's leader, you set an example for all to follow"

Feeling stubborn, John replied, "I didn't choose to be group leader."

"But you are" Yale insisted.

"I'm just a substitute."

"Why do you say that?"

John answered rather dejectedly, "I don't know. Things just seemed to go a lot smoother when Devon was in charge."

"Don't you think Devon asked you to lead the group because she believed in you? Come, stop making excuses. It's time to go...You know she would have done the same for you, if your situations were reversed."

Yale had a way of getting under his skin. He reluctantly rose to accompany the Teacher back to camp.

XXXXXXX

As the sun sank in the distance, the entire Eden crew pulled up crates and assembled about a single campfire. Returning from the lake, True and Uly rushed to Danziger, who was finding seats for the three of them. "Dad, we have to tell you something. We .."

Danziger interrupted his daughter firmly saying, "True, not now. You can tell me later." He wanted to get this over with as soon as possible.

"But Dad, it's really important" True insisted. Her father gave her a stormy look which she recognized as a cue to be quiet or else. She would have to share their news later.

The group become quiet as Yale stood before them, ready to officiate, "Since one of the purposes of our gathering tonight is to recognize Devon, I'm going to start with a prayer which you may choose to join me in if you wish." He bowed his head and closed his eyes,

"Lord, we the Eden Project have gathered together as a group to honor one of our members, Devon Adair. We trust that you are watching over her safety and you will provide us with a way to cure her. Help this time heal our wounds and sorrows. Help us to reach out and trust one another. Amen."

Yale's words quickly established a somber atmosphere. Bess found she had tears in her eyes. She thought she had been able to put aside her concerns about Devon but they had quickly risen to the surface.

Yale continued, "Our purpose here is to remember Devon and to discuss any of our other concerns. Attendance is mandatory, but participation is not."

John and a few others breathed sighs of relief.

Yale continued, "I have known Devon Adair since she was six years old. I watched her grow up. I taught her almost everything she knows. In a sense, she is my child. I have watched her accomplish many things - designing space stations, organizing her own multi-orbit firm, even proposing a mission to colonize Planet G889. Yet, I know that her family was closest to her heart. This project represented her son's life and became her's. She spent over six years preparing to reach this planet, with struggles every step of the way. Devon's vision was not only to save her own son, but to provide a future for humanity." Yale found himself becoming a bit emotional,

"We can't do anything to cure Devon now. Rather than dwell on that fact, we can help her to accomplish her dream. We must reach New Pacifica to set up the colony for those families."

An awkward silence greeted Yale's statements. Many of the Eden crew stared off into the distance or the campfire, reflecting on the events of the last few months. From the tension in the air, it was apparent that many had issues that they wanted to discuss, but no one was willing to make the first move. Finally, True broke the stalemate, saying in a quite voice,

"I miss Eben and Devon. I wish they were with us now" She leaned against her father, who put his arm around her.

"I miss them too" Magnus added.

Bess took a breath and began to share with the others, "Eben was a special friend. We were close. I wasn't as close to Devon, though I do remember once that we were sharing stories of our childhoods. I had always dreamed about how romantic it would be to live on the Stations, while she had believed that Earth was such a mysterious place to be." She laughed without humor.

"Maybe I was naive, but somehow it seemed like when we were all gathered around Devon after we first crashed on the planet and she told us that everything would be okay when we reached New Pacifica, that I believed her. With all that has happened, I don't know what to believe anymore." She covered her face with her hands while her husband placed his hand on her knee.

Morgan asked, "Julia, do we have any ideas about what's wrong with Devon?"

A wounded expression appeared on Julia's face and she shook her head. She was sitting along side Alonzo who had a protective arm about her.

"She's doing all she can, what do you expect?" Alonzo snapped back.

Attempting to soothe the pilot, Morgan emphasized with sincerity, "I know she is. I didn't mean to imply anything."

"What about what Elizabeth said? That this planet will reject us - maybe Devon is the first of our group to be affected by the planet and the rest of us will follow" Magnus trembled.

"I don't know. I just don't know" Julia said in a defeated tone.

"Let's not panic over something we have no control over" Yale advised.

"I'm concerned that even if we do find a way to cure Devon, that the spaceship will be looted by Grendlers by the time we return. We've seen what they can do to cargo bays" Walman commented.

John flinched, for he had touched upon one of his worst fears.

Alonzo tried to reassure the group, "The Terrians in the nearby area promised me that they would look out for her."

"What guarantee do we have that we are even going to be able to make it back to retrieve Devon?" Baines voiced. "What if the Council sent other operatives to greet us at New Pacifica? We could be walking into a trap."

"Gentleman, let me remind you that even on the Stations, life never offered us any guarantees" Yale advised. "We have been through some rough times but we shouldn't just give up."

The somber tone of the surrounding adults while discussing his Mom frightened Uly. He made direct eye contact with Danziger and asked, "Do you really believe that we are going to get my Mom back?" All eyes were upon the two of them.

John realized the importance of his response to the child and to the group. As acting group leader, he was forced to swallow his own doubts and encourage the frightened boy. It didn't matter if they were false hopes. The boy and the group needed hope.

"Yes I do Uly. I believe that somehow we are going to get your Mom back. Like Yale said, the only thing we can do for her now is to fulfill her...our mission and set up the colony at New Pacifica " he emphasized. Some could see what his words had cost him.

After a few minutes of silence, Yale sensed there was still unfinished business and encouraged, "Let's continue. I think we're making some progress. What other grievances do we need to discuss?"

"Well, I know I would feel a heck of a lot better if I could just sleep at night. I keep having these terrible dreams" Baines complained.

"You've been having nightmares too?" Bess perked up.

"Horrible ones - people screaming and crying. They scare the heck out of me." Several of the others indicated that they had been having nightmares as well, though it was apparent that all were not experiencing the same one.

Alonzo tried to shed some light on this, "I tried to interact with the Dream Plane this morning. Something is wrong here. The Dream Plane here seems -- distorted. I can't explain it. It wasn't like when we removed the sun stones and damaged the Dream Plane. It's still there but it's wrong."

"The Dream Plane distortion could be amplifying our fears to bring about our nightmares," Morgan suggested.

That sounded reasonable to John, who had been re-experiencing his recurrent nightmare of rushing to Devon's cold sleep crypt, only to have her fall into his arms - dead.

"I'm not sure that it's that simple" Julia pondered. "When we just compared notes, over eight people had the same dream of people dying or being tortured."

"You don't think it's a vision of our future, do you?" a horrified Bess asked.

"No, we haven't had experiences with the Dream Plane 'predicting' the future, at least not yet. But we have had experiences with it sending human messages. Look at Dell's distress beacon which it picked up and translated to us. And the penal colonists were able to transmit messages to loved ones via the Terrians using the Dream Plane. Some people could be in trouble and need our help" Julia said.

"Yes, the Dream Plane could be amplifying their distress and transmitting it to our dreams. We should search the area in the morning to see if we can find any signs of others" Alonzo added.

"I don't know. Maybe we should just move on. Why borrow somebody else's trouble? Stick with our own plans." Baines cautiously suggested.

"If another human being is in trouble, we have to find out and help them" Julia replied. They both looked towards Danziger to make a decision. Before he could respond, True intervened,

"Do you think the Dream Plane could relay a signal from the past? Kind of pick up on ghosts?" Some of the crew laughed uncomfortably. From the determined expression on his daughter's face, John was aware that she was serious. She had never been given to flights of fancy.

"What's your idea, sport?"

True looked to Alonzo. "Do you think it's possible?"

Alonzo thought a minute. "Yeah, I remember Mary and Devon both claimed they saw Mary's mother in the BioDome when we first discovered it. It's a possibility."

"So where are these ghosts?" Morgan asked with some trepidation.

True and Uly exchanged glances. "Go ahead, you can tell them" Uly said.

"Today, Uly and I went exploring." Her father glared at her. "We climbed over the hill just southeast of the lake and we found what looked like some type of settlement. We hid in the bushes and watched the area for several hours to see out who lived there, but no one showed up. So we figured it was safe to check it out. The first unit we entered had furniture in it, kinda like what we used on the Stations. We found a lot of things like clothing, dishes, even stuff that resembled our gear sets and scanners."

"You want to tell me why you didn't come back to camp or contact one of us as soon as possible" John asked sternly. True implored her father with her eyes to let her finish,

"I tried to you as soon as we got back to camp, but you wouldn't listen." She continued, "The next unit we went into had human skeletons in it. We got so scared we ran back to here immediately."

"I think we better investigate this in the morning" Danziger said grimly exchanging glances with Alonso, while others indicated their agreement as well.

TBC in Chapters 3&4 The Investigation


	3. The Investigation Part 1

Stepping Stones

by Joan Powers

Chapter 3 The Investigation Part 1

**Author's notes**: Thanks for the feedback! Nice to know that people are still interested in this great show which truly wasn't given a chance to thrive. Although these stories were written years ago, it's taking me some time to reformat for Sorry for any delays. I fully intend to finish posting all of my Earth 2 work as soon as I can. Lately I've been preoccupied, writing CBS to tell them how much I despise the idea of Lady Heather with Grissom in the latest CSI sweeps episode, which I WON'T be watching.

Thanks to Vicki, Paula and Lynne for their support and advice.

(voice of True)

_Once again, our dreams continued to torment us and the majority of the Eden Advance crew slept poorly. I was scared about my dreams being different from the ones that many of the others had. Today we would investigate a tentative explanation for their dreams of people dying. But I didn't think it would account for mine. _

_My dreams had an alien feeling to them, I knew that they couldn't be about anything human. I'm not sure if anyone else had this type of dream, since only part of the group had talked about their nightmares at our meeting. I guess I should have spoken up last night, but I didn't feel comfortable talking about the details of the dreams with anyone, not even with my Dad. Talking about them - even thinking about them, just made them seem worse so I tried to ignore them. _

_Now they're getting worse. In my latest nightmare, the thick goo continued to ooze over my skin and cover my body, forming a layer of slime. Then the fluid began to drip into my nose and throat. I started to gag - I couldn't breath. I panicked, gasping for air but the goo kept getting thicker and thicker. I tried to scrape it away with my hands, but they had become slick and useless. I woke up screaming at the top of my lungs, just as Uly had for the past few nights. I was bawling my eyes out and clinging to my Dad like some little kid. I wish they would stop._

_Everyone was so intrigued by the news of our discovery of a possible human settlement that the entire camp went to investigate, leaving only Zero and Morgan to guard our camp site. Dad wasn't going to allow Uly and I to return, since he wanted to punish us for our foolish behavior yesterday, but eventually he gave in. Besides, he needed us for directions. _

_After several of the men patrolled the area to ensure that no others were about, we broke up into small groups to explore the site. Uly and I led Julia, Magus and Alonzo to the unit that had the skeletons. I was tempted to tease Uly and dare him to go back inside, but I lost my nerve. Neither of us wanted to go back in there. The group was hopeful that we could determine who had lived there and w_hat had happened to them.

XXXXXXXX

"The kids were right - look at this" Magus exclaimed while cautiously peering at a skeleton which had a large shirt loosely hanging off of it. It was lying prone on a cot, partially covered with a blanket. "Do you think it's human?"

The doctor moved closer, using her scanner to probe the remains. "Yes. These are most definitely human" she confirmed in a subdued voice.

As Dr. Heller knelt by the bed engrossed in examining the bones, Magus and Alonzo prowled about the room. Another skeleton was propped up on a chair adjacent to the cot.

Other than a small cubicle for simple bathroom facilities, the windowless unit consisted of one main living area. Despite its small size and utilitarian tin-box appearance, it had several amenities, including some basic furniture, indoor plumbing, cooking facilities and electrical lights, which flickered erratically upon activation. The atmosphere was stale and unpleasant, and a layer of dust coated everything. Yet, the dark gray walls and flooring of the unit had been constructed of durable material, so most of their contents remained unspoiled.

Possessions of the former occupants were strewn about the room. Several pairs of worn boots were scattered about the foot of the bed and two bulky jackets hung from pegs on a wall. Some dishes were neatly stacked in cupboards and a few dirty ones were in the sink. Several ancient looking bundles of spices hung from the ceiling.

Magus opened the door of what appeared to be a refrigeration unit only to slam it shut due to the noxious odors it emitted. Next she found a wooden chest which contained several rather musty but usable articles of clothing. She began to search the garments for any insignia which might indicate their owner's identity.

Some electronic devices were on a table near the bed. Alonzo blew off the thick coating of dust and picked them up to examine them, "Haven't seen any of these for a while"

Magus came over to investigate, "How old are they?"

"I'm not sure, this is definitely older technology - look at this gear. It doesn't even have a POV feature or selective frequency broadcasting. And this scanner design hasn't been used for probably over 70 years."

"Not as old as you though, huh" Magus teased.

"That means that some other group of colonists from the Stations came here, before us" Julia concluded. She felt a chill go through her body as she acknowledged what the evidence suggested. It didn't surprise her that there was absolutely no public record of such a mission but the Council, whom she had once trusted implicitly, hadn't seen the need to inform her about it. Or were they even aware of the existence of this settlement?

XXXXXXX

"So what do you make of this?" Danziger asked Walman, as he raised a hand to rap on the exterior wall of a building, "Pretty solid stuff, huh?"

"Looks like a dura-steel compound similar to Station construction material" he conjectured while Danziger nodded in agreement, "God only knows how old it is. This stuff lasts forever." As Baines and Cameron rounded the corner, Walman called over, "Hey, what have you guys seen?"

"There are about 15 small units and 2 much larger main buildings. We poked our heads into a few housing units. A lot of them had skeletons in them which looked pretty human to me, though I didn't especially take a closer look. All of those units were chock full of personal belongings. The stuff looks old and dusty but I'll bet that a lot of it could be salvaged" Baines explained with an excited gleam in his eyes.

Walman cocked an eyebrow, "Is it only me or does this seem strange to you guys too? Grendlers tear through our cargo bays, not an easy feat mind you, to get at our supplies. Here stuff is a little dusty but ready for the taking, has been apparently for several years, and none take the bait." The others pondered his observations but were unable to draw any reasonable conclusions.

Looking to Danziger, Baines asked, "Have you found any vehicles?"

"Not yet, but I'll bet they have some. All indications suggest that these settlers came with much more cargo than the penal colonists. They certainly didn't manufacture this much dura-steel here. We did find their main power generator and waste containment force field. They're nuclear powered, just like that old space ship."

"Pretty routine until 80 years ago when the Stations ran into trouble with the containment fields" Walman commented. His brow became furrowed, "We'd better check that this field is still intact." The others rapidly agreed.

"I'll talk with Yale about the specifics" Danziger said. He was perplexed by the situation, "Looks like these people may have come from the Stations. Any ideas of what killed them? Any signs of struggle that you can discern?"

Baines replied, "I don't know. It's hard to say. Most of the..um..remains are inside of the buildings. Whether they were prisoners or they just happened to die there, who knows."

XXXXXXX

True and Uly were meandering about the center of the village by one of the larger buildings. After their surprise encounter with the skeletons yesterday and their nightmares of the previous evenings, both children were cranky and somewhat subdued.

Regardless of Danziger's warnings to stay close to an adult, they decided to walk around the outside of the buildings rather than accompany Bess, Denner and Yale into one of the units. They rationalized that since most of the 'bodies' thus far had been discovered inside of their respect units, they would be less likely to encounter one outside.

As they wandered, Uly caught a motion out of the corner of his eye. He whirled about to catch a glimpse of someone or something disappearing behind one of the smaller units. His curiosity automatically got the better of him and he pushed True forward saying, "Let's go. I see something."

As they dashed around the corner, they encountered a small rather filthy looking boy who was wearing a large backpack. He froze as if frightened by their presence. Though he was as tall as Uly, his dirt covered jacket and pants hung on him as if he never got enough to eat. The kids were excited to see another child and rushed forward to greet the stranger,

"Hi. My name's True and this is Uly. What's your name?"

The boy's brown eyes widened. He seemed a bit surprised and was trembling ever so slightly. After a moment, he resolutely swallowed his reservations and softly replied, "Paul." He cleared his throat and repeated more firmly, "My name is Paul."

"Do you live here? Where are your Mom and Dad?" Uly wondered.

The boy laughed and quickly responded, "No, I don't live here. I'm here by myself, just...checking out these old buildings."

"Isn't your family nearby?" True probed.

He shook his head and explained with false confidence, "I'll see them in a few days. They know I can handle being on my own."

True couldn't imagine her father letting her wander off very far by herself for that long a time period. He was still angry about yesterday when they had only been gone for a few hours. And Paul looked younger than her, maybe even Uly's age. He had to be lying, his parents or even another group of people must be nearby. She was anxious to tell her Dad about this as soon as possible. She tugged Paul's arm,

"Come on, let's introduce you to our group. You can come back to our camp and stay with us." True insisted, "Let's go meet my Dad."

The boy seemed reluctant and for a moment seemed to consider fleeing, but True's hold was too tight. "Okay" he consented.

XXXXXXX

Paul squirmed as he sat on a camp stool inside of the Martin's tent. Bess fussed over him, attempting to clean the stubborn spots of dirt that still clung to his face even after he had bathed in the lake. From the entrance of his tent, Morgan silently fumed as he witnessed his wife's ministrations.

"Ow" Paul complained as he fidgeted.

"Hold still and it won't hurt as much" Bess instructed as she then tried to drag a comb through the boy's damp unruly brownish gold curls. She stepped back to assess her work. His appearance had improved - but those damp shapeless clothes certainly weren't complementary.

"Hmm..Let's see if we can find you some clean clothes."

The boy rose and stepped back defiantly insisting, "No, there's nothing wrong with my clothes. I'm fine. I don't need you to take care of me. I have parents - I don't need new ones."

Bess's eyes became misty. _That poor boy must not be able to accept the loss of his parents_. The Eden group had diligently searched the surrounding area that afternoon and found no signs of any people or even evidence of former camp sites. She attempted to comfort him by patting his head, but he ducked to dodge her.

"Can I go now?" he asked, obviously ready to bolt.

"Don't go far. It's almost dinner time." Before the words were completely out of her mouth, the boy ran off. As she smiled after him, her husband approached her,

"What exactly are you doing?"

"He's a little boy without parents. He needs us."

Morgan began to expound, "Don't you think it's a little convenient that he happened to find us before he starved to death?"

Bess scowled at him, "Morgan, why do you always have to be so skeptical?"

He took a breath and attempted to explain himself, "Think about it. Who are his parents? The people who lived in the settlement? Julia said she'll be able to determine the precise age of those bones by nightfall, but she was guessing they were at least 20 to 40 years old. So that option doesn't make any sense. And if he's a penal colonist's child, where are they? Why haven't they taken over this little village and used it for shelter or at least pillaged it of all its supplies? If he is alone, how has he managed to survive so far?"

Disgusted with her husband's paranoia, Bess retorted with sarcasm, "Okay, let's hear your theory. Is he a Council agent sent to spy on us?"

"Can you rule out that possibility?" He reached out and grabbed one of his wife's hands, then looked directly into her eyes, "Look at all the Council has done in the past. They sabotaged our ship and even put surveillance devices in our heads without us knowing about it."

Bess removed her hand from his and turned away from him, pausing to consider his words. But in the end she stuck to her ground insisting, "He's a child."

"Who better not to suspect." Gauging the expression on his wife's face, he realized that he wasn't going to get anywhere with the discussion so he tried to avoid further aggravating her. In a gentler tone, he explained, "I just think we should keep an eye on him."

XXXXXX

Several of the Eden Advance crew were gathered about the evening campfire sitting on logs and crates, casually discussing what they had found at the village.

Yale summarized, "So the evidence pretty much supports our suspicions that this was a group of human colonists from the Stations."

"The clothes and furniture were suited for the human body" Magus volunteered.

"I even found children's toys - a doll with human features and what could be some toy space ships" Bess added.

"And the dura-steel construction of the buildings had to have originated from the Stations. There's no evidence of any mining which would have been necessary to get the raw materials to construct these sheets" Baines commented. "I'll bet they probably dismantled their cargo pods in order to obtain all this building material."

"Most of their technology - scanners, gear , computers and even the nuclear powered generator were prevalent at the Stations about a hundred years ago. Except for a few features, it really hasn't changed all that much" Alonzo mentioned, looking to Yale for confirmation.

The older man rubbed his beard, thinking aloud, "I believe that there were some rather vocal factions that opposed the Council at that time. Perhaps this is one of those groups who decided to rebel and strike out on their own. But even though this was a much smaller colony than the one we intend to establish, they still would have to have had connections to organize their resources and transport." He made a mental note to search his files later for more detailed information about this time period at the Stations.

Dr. Heller approached the group and several people turned expectantly, "The DNA I was able to extract from several different bone samples was human. My tests also indicate that the bones are roughly 75 to 100 years old" she announced.

"Can you tell what those people died of?" one person asked.

Julia rolled her eyes, slightly aggravated, "The only other information I can get from these bones is if they were broken. And due to the storage conditions and the amount of time that has elapsed, it's nearly impossible to tell if they were broken before or after death."

"Do we really need to know what killed them? We can't do anything to help them now. Why don't we just salvage some of their stuff and get out of here. If their spirits or memories or whatever are causing these dreams, the sooner we move away from here, the better we'll start to feel" Baines complained while several others chimed in with him.

Bess asked the doctor, "Can we do anything about the dreams? A Sedaderm would just make it worse, right?"

Julia nodded emphatically, "Nothing worse than being stuck in a nightmare that you can't wake up from."

"Let's get out of here" Walman urged, "I agree with Baines, salvage what we want and leave tomorrow." The others became more vocal, voicing their agreement as well.

"No" Julia objected loudly, drawing startled glances from the Eden crewmembers, "We can't leave now. There's valuable information here. If we can access their computer, we can learn more about this group. Knowledge of their experiences could help us to survive here. If someone or something about this planet killed these people, the information we obtain could save our lives." _And maybe help me cure Devon_, she fervently hoped.

Danziger agreed with the doctor, "She's right. I don't want to stay here either, but we can't pass up this opportunity. Why don't we form several teams to deal with the different tasks and try to get out of here as quickly as possible?" He looked to the others for confirmation. Walman shrugged his shoulders. No objections were raised for they too understood the unspoken implications of Julia's statement.

"Julia, can you lead a team in charge of collecting medical information?"

"What do you suggest we analyze? All we have are some bad dreams and a bunch of skeletons" she complained. Realizing how negative she sounded she added apologetically, "I guess we can continue to study the skeletons and examine their positions and locations in the units. I think I'll analyze some plant samples to determine if any environmental contaminants are present. And I'll see if we can locate their medical facility."

Danziger continued, "Baines - why don't you coordinate a search and salvage team. Let's not be greedy - take only what you think we can really use. Remember, we have to lug all this stuff with us." Baines nodded, accepting the position.

Morgan cleared his throat to volunteer, "Yale and I can work on accessing any information on their computer in that main communication facility that you found."

Alonzo added, "I'll help you out since I've probably had experience with some of those systems."

Bess mentioned, "I can organize collecting personal information about these colonists. Denner and I can go through each unit and catalogue the various items so we can get a better picture of who these people were."

Danziger concluded, "And Walman and Magus can help me investigate the waste facility - problems with that containment field could have made these people sick. We'll see if we can locate any functional vehicles as well."

Magus objected, "The plan sounds reasonable but guys we still haven't figured out what we can do to get a good night's sleep"

"Don't lay down until you're completely drained," Julia suggested. "I haven't had any dreams yet. When you're physically exhausted sometimes you bypass REM sleep. Think of it this way, the sooner we collect our information and salvage whatever we need, the sooner we can move on." Alonzo indicated that this had happened with him as well.

Magus was not encouraged, noting the young doctor's pale complexion and the dark shadows beneath her eyes.

"So are the dreams are a result of whatever happened to those colonists?" Bess wondered.

Alonzo answered, "We have no other working theory to go on. Neither Uly or I have been able to make contact with the Terrians." At least not coherent contact. During his latest attempt to access the Dream Plane, he felt the presence of the Terrians and thought he heard their trilling but he couldn't understand them.

"Maybe the dreams are what actually killed those people. I'll bet that you could lose your mind eventually if you never got any sleep" Magus expounded.

Julia rose, "Interesting theory, but we have no evidence to support it. The dreams could be what killed them, or they could be communicating their anguish over some event or illness, which caused their deaths. Or the dreams could be symbolic representing something entirely different. I think it's going to take us a lifetime on this planet to fully understand the Dream Plane. All I know for certain is that we can't base any scientific conclusions on dreams alone." The doctor spoke briskly, frustrated by all of these questions and her lack of hard facts. She turned to walk to her tent and Alonzo quickly followed her, concerned by her sharpness.

Morgan raised his voice to attract the attention of the others so they too would not depart, "Excuse me. What about the boy?"

"What about him?" Baines replied.

"Are we just going to take him in without any questions? What do we really know about him?"

"Martin, he's just a kid. And a pretty stubborn one at that. I tried to take him to Julia to have her examine him, but he refused" Danziger chuckled, admiring the boy's spirit after what he must have gone through.

Morgan's eyebrows raised, "Doesn't that sound just a bit suspicious to you?"

"Not when the behavior comes from a young boy. Ease off Martin. I agree, we should exercise some caution - let's make sure that he doesn't have unsupervised access to gear or supplies and keep a close eye on the kids to make sure they don't run off together. Otherwise I don't think we have any other choice, he won't survive on his own." _And we have too many other issues to worry about. I'm just too tired,_ he admitted to himself.

"Doesn't anybody have any objections?" Morgan asked, looking around the campfire. No one was really listening. They were so exhausted that a small orphaned boy seemed like the least of their concerns. People began to drift away from the campfire. Morgan demanded, "Shouldn't we at least double our camp guards, just in case?"

Danziger responded, "You're right. We can do our usual shifts and have Zero assist. He's probably more alert than the rest of us."

"Where will the boy sleep?" Bess asked anxiously.

Danziger answered, "He wants to be with the other kids. Our tent is big enough so I don't have any objections." Though he was being to feel like Father Goose and he wasn't looking forward to the prospect of comforting three terrified children when the nightmares hit in the middle of the night.

Bess frowned and turned abruptly to retire to her tent.

TBC


	4. The Investigation Part 2

Stepping Stones

By Joan Powers

Chapter 4 The Investigation Part 2

"It's not fair. He has two kids all ready" Bess complained to her husband as she changed for bed. She was on the verge of tears.

Morgan was surprised - almost shocked in fact, his wife was not usually this easily disturbed. He realized that these nightmares had been disturbing his wife's equilibrium and that this issue had been the last straw. Though he was equally tired and irritable (and secretly glad that the suspicious young boy would not be staying with them), he sincerely loved his wife and wanted to console her,

"Were you ever a ten year old boy, Bess?" he asked gently. "He just wants to be with the other kids, who are close to his age." She sat on their cot next to her husband, tears beginning to trickle down her cheek,

"But Paul spent part of this evening with Danziger, without the other kids."

He was inclined to believe that she was over-reacting on that issue. The boy had briefly followed Danziger about the camp as the older man performed some of his duties. But rather than argue the point he put his arm around his wife, "Honey, a young boy identifies with his dad. And maybe Danziger just happens to remind him of his father. That doesn't mean that there's anything wrong with you." He pulled his wife closer to him to whisper in her ear, "You know I think you're pretty special."

Bess softly replied, "Thanks Morgan." She nestled her head against his chest.

After several minutes, the couple lay down on their bed, and adjusted themselves to become more comfortable. Bess was starting to feel a little better. Now if she could just stay awake until she couldn't keep her eyes open anymore perhaps she could avoid that horrible dream. She abruptly pulled her head back from her husband's chest, "Morgan"

"Hmm.."

"Honey, I told you about my dream, but I don't know what yours is."

He evaded her, "It's not the same as yours."

"So..." encouraging him to open up.

"Umm...do you remember I made that comment about the Dream Plane amplifying our fears?" She nodded. "That's what I dream of."

"Come on Morgan, you have to tell me. I'm you're wife" she urged sensing his reluctance.

"It's more of a feeling than an event. I feel...confined...trapped. Like my motions are very limited." He paused, hesitant to continue, "Remember what happened with Commander O'Neal?"

"The Koba?"

"No, that we mistakenly buried him alive. I had nightmares for weeks about it, so I figured this bout was more of the same." And it was a horrible reminder of some of the sensations of his own near death experience as well.

XXXXXXXX

Bess, Denner, and True were just about finished cataloguing the contents of their first unit. In addition to the toys that Bess had discovered, True had found some children's clothing in the crates by the beds in the main room. Yet, all of the skeletal remains discovered thus far had been of adults.

"Where are the kids?" True wondered.

"Maybe they grew up and this is old stuff?" Denner suggested.

Bess disagreed, "There's not much storage space in any of these units. And we found these clothes in easy access positions, not where I would be likely to place items for long term storage. Even though this group seemed to have more resources than we do, they would probably have to recycle clothes about their community just like we do."

"We could still use these" True indicated as she held up a pair of blue overalls. They seemed close to her size.

"I agree. Why don't you set aside the clothes you like then select our next target?"

After quickly making her selections, True left with Denner. Bess activated her gear to complete her report,

"Completing Unit 1 inventory, far north side of camp. This unit consists of two rooms and items listed in File C1. Observations: Although no human remains were discovered in this unit, it does give the appearance that the occupants were not planning to be gone long - the remains of the preparations for a long overdue meal were in the kitchen. The items in this unit seem not to have been disturbed as far as we can tell. The presence of children's items and two rooms leads me to conclude that a small family must have lived here."

She prepared to leave and notify Baines that he and his crew could check out this unit, giving the room a final glance. She chuckled to herself, _Leave it to a Station dweller to design a home with no windows and no aesthetic beauty what so ever_. She hoped that Devon's plans for New Pacifica housing would incorporate more of the natural beauty of this environment.

As she removed her gear from her head, an older version of the device caught her eye. She quickly looked back to her own - they were pretty similar. While her husband would probably be finding most of the official information they needed on the larger communication computer, it wouldn't hurt to see if she could uncover some additional details. She grabbed the older model, adjusted it on her head and proceeded to fiddle with the controls. While she wasn't able to access any video display, the audio relay was functional,

/Personal log: Marie(static)

_I'm so excited. Our experiments with the new strains of wheat arewell. At this rate, we'll be able to plant the new stock within a few months and possibly double our food supply before winter. Not like the fiasco is my Georgie's birthday. It won't be like home -no trips to the zoo or big parties. But life is good here. He's going to have opportunities that I never dreamed of as a child.and he won't miss what he never really knew. We'll have a party of sorts for him. I'm going to whip up a special meal he'll never truly realize how lucky he is to live in such a close knit community where each member trusts and depends on one another. Not like the Stations. I don't regret having left_.

Personal log: Marietta Anderson; Day 1080

_We had another encounter with the natives today. As usual, they sprouted out of the ground without warning and strolled about the center of our village making those odd noises. Weller and Taimes have been trying for quite some time to analyze the sounds to attempt to learn their language but they haven't had much success. It's very frustrating that we still haven't been able to establish any method in which to communicate with the creatures. For the most part they have been non-threatening, they just periodically appear and wander about our camp - studying us. Adams and Grant are especially curious about these native inhabitants and have been going on scouting trips to further study the creatures and investigate the caves which they live in. The rest of us have too much other work to do. At least the tall creatures are better than those others. Those monsters are terribly strong and robbed us of all those supplies. Thanks to them several members of our colony starved to death last winter. While Emily sincerely believes that these creatures have souls and are intelligent beings, I don't consider them to be friendly or trustworthy._

Person Marietta And Day 1085

_Today we had some problems with our containment field, but fortunately Ron really knows his stuff. Thank God most of us are highly trained professionals. I wonder how the Station is surviving without us. (She laughs.) The kids are feeling sick again. I'll have to take them by the doctor. I'm so glad that she's here. It was awful not having a doctor for so long. She claims that we all are still building up new antibodies to the various micro-organisms on this planet and that would account for why many of us have been battling minor ailments lately. I'm still not sure / _

Bess continued to press buttons on the gear set. She had no manner in which to systematically recall the files, but information was information. She wished she could have seen Georgie's party. It was apparent to Bess that this woman loved her child dearly and seemed pleased to be on this planet.

After a few more combinations, she accessed another segment of the journal. As she listened, her face became pale.

XXXXXXXX

While Danziger, Magus and Walman were scanning the perimeter of the nuclear waste containment field with Geiger counters, Uly and Paul were exploring an adjacent area. Periodically Danziger sternly glanced over to check on the boys to ensure that they didn't wander off.

"So what's it like where you're from?" Uly prodded Paul.

Despite the groups' repeated attempts to obtain factual information from Paul about his party, the boy refused to open up and became very agitated upon extended questioning. He insisted that his parents were alive but offered no explanation as to their location. Thus the majority had concluded that the boy's parents and group members must have died and that the boy was too upset to talk about it.

Paul began to brag to Uly, "Have you ever seen a horse? I have one at my home which I get to ride and take care of. My Mom says I'm a great rider."

Uly paused, remembering his brief interlude with his horse Pegasus. With the innocence of youth he briefly hoped that maybe his horse was still alive and they could be reunited one day. But that hope was rapidly extinguished by the burgeoning adult within him which scoffed at such childishness. With the collapse of his mother, the walls of childhood were beginning to crumble to be replaced with adolescent skepticism.

Despite his cockiness, he liked Paul. It was great to have another boy to play with and talk about guy stuff. Not to be shown up he replied, "Yeah, I had a horse. I watched him grow up overnight from a frozen embryo. He was great - he loved me best. I just knew it."

Continuing their game Paul added, "Well, I bet you've never been on a sled ride."

"Have too - I've done it. Yale made me a sled for my birthday and my Mom showed me how to use it."

"Where I live we have enough kids to play baseball. I can hit a home run." Paul abruptly closed his mouth then swiftly changed the subject. "How do you stand the nightmares here?"

Uly shrugged. "I don't know. I just try not to think about them."

"What do you dream about?" Paul had heard Uly crying last night. He knew the boy's dreams were as bad as his own. But Uly didn't want to share. Paul sincerely liked Uly and wanted to engage the boy's confidence, "I'll tell you what I dreamed about. That something bad happened to my Mom and I would never get to see her again."

Pain flashed across Uly's eyes, "That's pretty bad."

Paul continued, "Where are your Mom and Dad?"

Uly briefly explained about his mother's illness.

"So Mr. Danziger isn't your Dad?" Uly shook his head. Paul smiled, "He's neat."

"I think so too. Will you really get to see your Mom and Dad again?"

Paul stuck to the same story determinedly thrusting out his chin, "Of course."

Uly tried to probe deeper. Since he and Paul were becoming fast friends maybe he would share his secret with him, "They didn't die or leave you?"

The boy's lower lip began to tremble as he vehemently denied, "Of course not!"

XXXXXXX

While taking a break from their respective tasks, Julia and Alonzo entered a room just off of the main communication area to seek out some privacy. As the door swung shut behind them, Alonzo pulled Julia to him and held her tightly. He closed his eyes and caressed the small of her back with one of his hands, still amazed by how much he loved and needed her. Her relentless persecution of herself was draining to him as well as her. As worn down as he felt, he could probably spend all day just holding her, but Julia was charged with nervous energy and unable to hold still long. Breaking away from him she began pacing the room,

"Anything new?"

He shook his head but replied confidently, "The operating system has been damaged but Morgan and Yale think they've figured out a way to get it functioning. We'll have information before the end of the day. How about you?"

She shrugged, "What's there to say? This room served as their medical facility so I just started exploring it. Their equipment is pretty crude by modern standards. So far I've found some salvageable supplies, but the medical records must have been stored in the main communications computer." She had been impatiently waiting for Morgan to announce that the system was operational. _At least that guy is good for something_, she thought rather uncharitably. "I'm tempted to believe that these people died of some sickness rather than any outside force, but...I'm only guessing."

He grinned as he reminded her, "Sometimes you have to fly by the seat of your pants love."

She sighed, aware that he wasn't saying anything new. His former accusation, "Haven't you learned anything from this planet?" echoed in her mind. This was an issue which they had argued over multiple times - their different views of the world. She knew that sometimes you had to take a chance. It was just awfully difficult for her to accept. It went against her training and her very nature. There was always a logical and scientific way to approach problems...and to minimize risk. Jumping in impetuously usually lead to trouble, she had often reminded her young lover.

She wandered to the other side of the room to avoid Alonzo's gaze. She didn't have the energy to get into this discussion with him today. She rubbed her temples, her head ached. This continual lack of sleep was giving her horrendous headaches.

Alonzo had recognized Julia's ploy, so he let her play her game. He began to walk about the room, "Hey Julia, what is this thing?"

He had moved a piece of equipment which was obstructing some type of door with n electronic keypad attached to it. Julia crossed the room, she hadn't noticed that item earlier. As she grew closer, her heart began to pound furiously. "Oh my God! Alonzo - do you know what this is?"

He immediately responded to the excitement in Julia's tone. "What?"

She wiped the transparent window in the door with her shirt tail and peeked inside. Wide eyed, she explained, "This is a cold storage unit."

"You mean like the cold sleep chambers on the ship?"

"No, no person would be able to survive in one of these. It's like a big refrigerator. And look inside."

Alonzo pressed his face against the window to see...It couldn't be...It was human corpses. He felt unsettled by the sight. "Why wouldn't they just bury the dead? I don't understand"

Julia rushed to explain, "If there was some disease that was affecting them, they would have to burn the bodies to ensure that they had killed whatever micro organisms caused the disease as well. These specimens were possibly preserved so the doctor could learn more about the disease and how to save the others."

She was so thrilled she could hardly stand still and practically yelled, "Do you know what this means? We could have human tissue to assay. We have almost a hundred years on their medical equipment where significant advances in diagnosing micro organisms have been made. We may be able to determine what they died of."

And with this information she could save her friend's life - one of the first people to believe in her abilities as a physician. She threw her arms around Alonzo and kissed him soundly.

XXXXXXX

Bess approached Yale who was taking a break, sitting on the ground in the afternoon sun while resting his back against the large main facility wall. She crouched down onto the ground beside him, "Having any luck?"

"Not yet. It's taking us a while to get the system up. I believe we'll have it figured out within a few hours. Your husband is pretty talented."

Her brief smile was rapidly replaced by a concerned frown. "Yale, I need to know something. Do you remember any of the information that you had access to while you were linked to Eve?"

"Unfortunately, due to the crudeness of our hook up and the power surges Eve experienced, large portions of those files were distorted or destroyed. Were you interested in anything in particular?"

Bess opened her backpack to pull out her gear. She had been making backups of the excerpts of Marietta Anderson's log so she could be sure to recall the portions she needed it. "I found parts of a personal journal. I can't tell much about the time sequence of the passages and a lot of the audio quality is poor, but I want you to listen to something." She activated her gear as Yale leaned forward,

/_They don't know what's going on either. I hate to tell Peter, but I don't think I believe them anymore. They don't look as sick as the rest of us - the original colonists. But he wouldn't want me to say such things because it would upset the others. I just can't stand not knowing what to do. Georgie and Emily are tired and crying and I don't know what to do to help them. This doesn't seem like any of the other infections that we have battled. I feel so dizzy and disoriented, like I'm going to pass out half of the time. It's so difficult to concentrate. doing a screen for All I can say is Dr. Anson better be working as hard as she claims to be_/

Yale's eyes widened as he listened to the recording. He began to play back his mind's eye to try to review the data he was exposed to while linked to Eve. Despite numerous blank spaces, within minutes he caught a relevant passage. As he replayed the section his own response vibrated in his head, _I can see them. I can see the others, their settlements, their children. They're dying! They're all dying! _

Bess grasped Yale's arm, startled by the shocked expression on his face, "What did you see? Can you show me?" Using his holographic projection attachment - a compilation of images flashed by in a matter of seconds - buildings, crops, people, their children; then sick children, burning corpses, fainting individuals and those sick in bed - pale and dying.

Yale and Bess exchanged horrified glances. Maybe the planet never had been their true foe.

To be continued in Stepping Stones: Deceptions Chapters 5&6


	5. Deceptions Part 1

Stepping Stones

by Joan Powers

Chapter 5 Deceptions Part 1

Author's notes:

(1) At the conclusion of Stepping Stones: The Investigation, Bess and Yale uncovered information suggesting a link between Bennett's crew and the newly discovered settlement. In the meantime, Dr. Heller located a refrigeration unit containing human corpses which she intends to autopsy. This story continues their search to learn about the members of this community and their connection to the Council scientists.

(2) Special thanks to Vicki, Lynn and Paula for their continued support.

(voice of Morgan Martin)

_We labored late into the night, anxious to accomplish our tasks as rapidly as possible so we could leave that cursed place. Those wretched dreams were gradually wearing us down, slowly draining us of our energy and eroding our self confidence and sense of security. Yet we strove to uncover the mysteries of that settlement. _

_Despite the damage incurred to the hard drive by erratic power surges, Yale and I had managed to get their computer system up and running. Decoding the security password had been the next hurdle which had taken us the rest of the day and part of the evening to accomplish. Finally we had been able to begin reviewing the files, doggedly searching for information about the members of this community and their fate. _

_Presently, it was about three o'clock in morning and I was alone at the facility with only my sleeping wife by my side to keep me company. My eyes were blood shot and burning and the rest of my body ached as well. _

_What was I doing there that late at night? I myself wondered, for admittedly I was an unlikely candidate for such zealous dedication to duty. _

_Rather than working simply to postpone my own nightmares, another factor motivated my search. I was becoming increasingly worried about Bess who stubbornly clung to her belief that those biostat-implants were going to kill us. She was becoming obsessed with the idea. It wasn't like my wife to behave so irrationally. I had to find out the truth - to give her peace. _

_Some of the information I had uncovered, along with the journal excerpts Bess had shared with me, seemed to confirm her fears. However, I wasn't fully convinced. Life on this planet with its seemingly innocuous Kobas and spring flowers had certainly reinforced my belief that appearances could be deceiving._

XXXXXXX

In his tent, Danziger lay on his side on his bed roll with an arm wrapped about his sobbing daughter. Her tear stained face was pressed up against his chest and her small hands were tightly clutching the fabric of his shirt. When she began to calm down and drift back to sleep, her breathing became slower and her grip on her father loosened. Yet his heart was still racing for it had scared him to see his little girl so frightened by these horrific nightmares.

As he continued to stroke her dark hair he thought about how much he hated this place. It angered him that this 'force' was terrorizing their group in such an insidious fashion. He almost would have preferred that they had a tangible enemy to fight. For what weapons could they equip themselves with to combat this type of battle? How long could they stand it? Even the Grendlers and the Terrians seemed to know to stay away from this place.

How would Devon have dealt with this situation?

He had only consented to stay at this place because of the faint possibility that they could gain information which would enable Julia to diagnose her illness. He didn't care about any of the rest of it. If they left with nothing but a cure, he would consider their mission successful. He and Alonzo would continue to work on opening that stubborn door lock on the refrigeration unit at first light and then Julia could perform her tests and provide some answers.

Of course, it wasn't quite that simple.

Dr. Heller had explained to them that there were several mitigating factors to consider such as if the bodies had been adequately preserved. The power surges which had wreaked havoc with the computer system could have done the same to the refrigeration unit. Even if the bodies were intact, the organism which caused the disease most likely was not present in them anymore or could have been altered after all this time. And...this might not even be the same infection as the one which afflicted Devon. It was foolish to hope, but he just couldn't give up on her.

He glanced over to Devon's child and Paul, who both appeared to be sleeping soundly. Uly was curled up tightly in a snug ball as if trying to escape the nightmares while Paul's lanky form was sprawled out on top of his blanket. He smiled warmly towards them. Uly was a good kid. With Devon's absence, he was reminded even more of her as he grew closer to her son.

Paul seemed like a good kid too. John was surprised that the young boy had rushed into his arms last night without hesitation when his nightmare had become unbearable. It wasn't like him to accept a stranger so readily but something about Paul had dissolved those barriers. Something about him...no, it was probably just because he was so tired and the kid was so damned vulnerable.

He tried to shift his thoughts to other matters to help him sleep, but he was having difficulty. His last glimpse of Devon in that cold sleep crypt tended to flood his mind these nights as he struggled to rest. He attempted to retrieve happier memories. Those of his little girl wearing yellow overalls with ducks on them, watching her taking her first steps towards Alex with a huge expression of wonderment on her face...sharing her amazement about the dirt and rocks on this mysterious planet...standing in the moonlight beside the ocean with Devon, listening to the waves ebb and recede...her warm smile and dazzling brown eyes as she told him that he meant a great deal to her...

XXXXXX

Uly stirred beneath his blanket. He had the dream again. It wasn't as intense as it had been for the last few nights, but it still disturbed him. He clutched the blanket closer to himself as if it would offer him some protection. In the haze of semi-consciousness, he remembered that there were Terrians in his dream yet the sounds and emotions which had overwhelmed him were not characteristic of that species.

Unlike his previous dreams, a strident voice rose above the cacophony of the others and he could almost interpret what it was saying. As the tone had formerly suggested to him, the voice was accusing him of doing something wrong.

What did he do?

He heard a faint noise. One turn of his head confirmed that True and her Dad were fast asleep but Paul was crying softly, hiding his face in his blanket. Uly leaned over by him and whispered, "Did you have the dream again?"

The younger boy didn't display his typical confidence. He raised his head and nodded, as tears threatened to continue to stream from his brown eyes.

Remembering their conversation from earlier in the day Uly asked,"Your Mom?"

"Yeah" Paul indicated, while biting his lip to try to stop it from shaking.

"When my Mom collapsed, I had nightmares about losing her every night" Uly shared somewhat hesitantly. He hated to think of her as being sick. Or frozen in cold sleep. He strove only to remember her as the person she had been for the majority of his life and the person she would be once they were able to cure her. Strong and loving. Confident and filled with life. He struggled to be brave as John had suggested for he knew that would be his mother's wish.

Yet, it was difficult for such a young boy to sustain hope in the face of all the obstacles they had encountered. He missed her desperately. Life wasn't the same without her. Sometimes he felt enraged about the situation. It wasn't fair. It frustrated him that his newly found Terrian brothers seemed to be turning a deaf ear to his pleas for help.

Curious about Paul's situation, Uly had to ask again, "Is your Mom alive?"

Paul vigorously nodded and spoke softly, "Yeah, my parents are alive. You have to believe me. They're just not here. Not right now - that is. I miss them so much."

At that moment the curly haired boy seemed as miserable as Uly had felt when his Mom had first fallen ill. The young boy's face was pale and he trembled with fear. He shot a furtive glance towards Danziger and seemed to contemplate going to him until he noticed True tucked beneath his arm.

Uly wasn't sure he believed his friend. Yale had explained to Uly and True that it was highly unlikely that this boy had any living relations. Yet he decided to see what else Paul had to say and try to calm him down. "When can you see them again?"

Paul replied, "Soon. I have to go home soon. They don't even know I'm here. They're probably worried sick. But I have to do something first. Something real important."

Uly's ears perked up. "What? Why are you here? Tell me more" he urged.

Paul's mouth dropped open, he seemed horrified that he let this information slip and he hastily blurted, "I can't tell you anything else. I probably shouldn't have told you this much. Please don't tell anyone" he begged the older boy.

Uly gave him a puzzled look.

"Our secret?"

"What's this all about?" Uly asked.

"Please, I can't tell you. You gotta believe me. Just our secret" grabbing the older boy's arm.

Paul was so frantic that Uly agreed.

XXXXXX

The atmosphere in the Medical facility was tense as Julia impatiently peered over Alonzo and Danziger's shoulders while they continued to analyze the electronic locking mechanism on the refrigeration unit door.

"There's gotta be a better way to do this. Why can't we just dismantle the door? By-pass this stupid lock and take the door right off its hinges"

Danziger insisted while slamming a wrench on to the ground. He was disgusted with fiddling around with that homemade piece of junk. God only knew why they rigged this system the way they did. It looked like they had used every spare part they could find. His best guess was that they had to set it up that way because the door wouldn't seal well without that half-assed locking mechanism.

Julia objected, "How many times do I have to tell you this, the bodies have to be maintained at a low temperature. If you take off the door, that defeats the purpose."

Admittedly, she would be performing the autopsies at room temperature, but she didn't want to take any chances with those four corpses. She could only examine one body at a time and she certainly didn't want to destroy any evidence in the meantime.

Anticipating John's next comment she quickly added, "Sure you could rig some type of a makeshift door. But you wouldn't have it ready in time to prevent an increase in the chamber's temperature. It won't work. You've going to have to figure out the code to open the lock. Please, help me to my job the best I can. "

Julia's mind had been busily humming all night as she had lain in a semi-awake stupor. She planned to set up her equipment in that room to avoid transporting the bodies great distances and reduce the risk of potentially exposing the entire group to some unknown biohazard. She would wear full contamination garb as she performed the autopsies. Her mental list contained the physical characteristics she planned to examine, the samples she would prepare and the tests she intended to perform on them.

This waiting was torturous to her, she was terribly anxious. She drummed her fingers on a table top then sighed; it was going to take the guys longer to access her subjects than she had anticipated.

She decided to head over to the main computer to examine the medical files. With a bit of hindsight, she reminded herself that _any_ medical data could greatly enhance her search for the cause of death of all these people. She chided herself for being so impatient to examine the bodies but she couldn't resist the lure of hard solid evidence which had eluded her up to that point. She was optimistic that Yale and Morgan had been able to locate the digitized medical logs. Mentally crossing her fingers, she entered the adjacent room.

A bleary eyed Bess glanced up from the computer screen and greeted Dr. Heller. Her curly locks, usually neatly groomed and shiny, were dull and matted down on one side of her head from laying on the floor half of the night. Her husband was nearby, stretched out on the ground and covered with a blanket. He was fast asleep.

"Did Morgan tell you what he found out?" She continued without giving Julia a chance to respond, "Franklin Bennett, Elizabeth Anson and the other members of their crew were here - at this settlement but they weren't original members of this colony. Morgan found their biostats. Most were prominent scientists who disagreed with the Council's views and wanted to escape the Stations. They called this colony 'Independence'."

Marietta Anderson, the woman who had recorded the journal that Bess had been examining, had been an agricultural bioengineer who had wanted to do research on restoring the farmlands of Earth and developing hardier strains of grains to adapt to the environmental conditions there rather than focusing her energies on hydroponics research as the Council had demanded of her. Likewise her husband Peter, a chemist, was coerced into using his talents to develop biological weapons. Georgie and Emily were their children.

"Hmm, that's interesting." Julia mentioned off-handedly. Her attention span wasn't the greatest these days; she was preoccupied with her own thoughts.

Bess glared at the woman until Julia looked up to met her gaze, "So...?" wondering what was on the woman's mind. Sensing some hostility from Bess, Julia defensively snapped, "So what are you trying to imply?"

Bess gave her a look of disbelief, "Come on Julia. I may be an Earth girl but I'm not stupid. To me it looks like the Council allowed these people to leave the Stations then followed them to spy on them and use them as guinea pigs. If this group could survive on G889, so could they."

Julia took a moment to process Bess's statement. Essentially that was part of the mission that the Council had sent her on, so she couldn't dispute the other woman's logic.

Bess continued, "Think about it, Elizabeth told you she designed those biostat-implants so the Council could monitor life signs. Who do you think she was originally designing them for? That way the Council could keep track of the colony members from a distance using Eve. That journal passage I found suggests that these colony members were experiencing the same symptoms that we did when Eve was jacking up the power in those things in our heads. Elizabeth recognized our symptoms and diagnosed our problem immediately. How could she have known about it unless it had happened before?"

Julia angrily replied, "You're jumping to conclusions Bess - we don't have all the information. Do we even have any notion of the time frame of any of these events?"

Bess retorted, "Morgan clearly found that a group of six people joined Independence colony over 2 years after it was established."

Julia gave an exasperated sigh, "That doesn't mean that Elizabeth or the Council deliberately killed these people! That wouldn't make any sense." As she caught a glimpse of the desperation in Bess's eyes, the doctor quickly recognized that other woman wasn't quite herself so she refrained from additional comments. She wondered what she could do to calm her down. Perhaps she needed a sedative? Or would that be the worst possible option - trapping poor Bess in the altered Dream Plane?

Bess clutched Julia's arm, "Those images that Yale saw while he was linked to Eve were of this colony. He located the exact sites where some of the vids were taken. Things have changed some over time but Yale was pretty certain."

Dr. Heller stepped back. Something about this scenario didn't make sense to her. Whatever had happened, it was clear that they were not going to be able to stay here for a prolonged period of time. The strain of the hostile Dream Plane was gradually beginning to take its toll on everyone.

Bess added, "Did you know more than half of their community had children? They wanted a better life for them; at least that's what Marietta said. Yale says that they must have been desperate to leave the Stations, almost like modern day Pilgrims. The only data they had would have been from an EX-70 probe sent out in '65 which _suggested_ that this planet's gravity was similar to Earth's and that the atmosphere contained the components necessary to sustain human life. That's it."

"Honey" a groggy voice called over, "I found some information I think you'll be interested in." Morgan stretched and rose from the floor. He tucked a few stray hairs into his pony tail as he ambled over to his wife's side. After pressing some keys on the computer console to call up a file, he motioned for Julia to join them, "Here's one of the logs that Bess and I found last night,

/On screen: Karl Buckston Highlights of team leader's meeting Day 1820.

On the monitor is an image of an older man with closely cropped raven hair and graying temples. Faint stubble of beard covers his jaw. His posture suggests he is weary as he rubs his chin.

_Tonight we discussed routine reports from the committees. Weller's group is diligently slaving away at repairing our vehicles but we're going to have to accelerate our search for an alternative fuel source or adapt the vehicles to use some other type of energy. Our latest test drilling has indicated a general lack of fossil fuels about the immediate area, and we won't have sufficient grain to continue using methanol. _

_Meanwhile the planting must continue and Peter Anderson has organized a crew of volunteers to step in and continue the job as we wait for repairs. (The corners of his mouth momentarily turn up and his eyes reflect his pride in the members of his community.) At least Ron Stanton reported that our nuclear powered generator has been behaving and there are no longer any problems with the waste containment field. Since there was no other pressing business, we decided to cut the meeting short, many weren't feeling well._

_Unfortunately, our doctor has not made much progress in diagnosing our illness. At first we thought it was general fatigue due to the manual labor we have been performing. So we attempted to proceed with business as usual. Yet, each day more people exhibit the symptoms of the disease and all are progressively feeling worse. Dr. Anson hasn't been able to identify any alien virus thus far. She's continuing with her tests and we pray that she will devise a cure for us shortly. (He stops abruptly, grimacing in pain as he reaches to rub his hands against his temples.) More than half of our community are complaining of headaches, dizziness and overall weakness. _

_(He looks away for a moment.)_

_I hate to even mention this but after our meeting tonight, Marietta Anderson pulled me aside. Normally Marietta is pretty level headed, but she told me that she believes that the ex-Council scientists who arrived on that Venus class ship don't seem to be susceptible to this illness. This is such a large community, I don't know if her observations are true or not. She insinuated that they may actually be causing the disease. _

_As paranoid as it sounds, each of us is fully aware of the depths to which the Council would sink to achieve its goals. We've tested out the environmental conditions of this planet and set up a viable community, perhaps now we are expendable. However, these people have lived with us for over five years. I think we've formed a bond and I consider them to be integral members of our community. I know we couldn't have survived this long without their contributions. I find it difficult to conceive that they would intentionally harm us./_

Bess turned to Julia and ominously stated, "That's the last message in this directory."

Morgan quickly jumped in, "That's the key word honey, in _this_ directory. I've found files dated a year or two later in some of the other directories I uncovered."

Bess shifted to face her husband, her eyes searching his, anxious for additional confirmation. Putting a hand on her shoulder, he attempted to comfort her,

"Doesn't that help you honey? They lived. The implants didn't kill them after all."

She seemed unwilling to concede. Not that she wanted to believe to the contrary. She just wasn't fully convinced.

With some reluctance, Morgan added, "Okay, here's some other information I found." He called up a file from another directory while commenting to Julia, "I located the Medical directory."

/On screen: Med. file Dr. Elizabeth Anson Day 1822

_I've just finished examining Weller who has been complaining about fatigue and feeling disoriented. Apparently he has been experiencing these symptoms for the past few days and has only come to see me after nearly falling off a Trans Rover during a dizzy spell. Normally knowing Weller, I'd suspect that he's just been working too hard but others are reporting similar symptoms as well. And they seem to be getting worse. Some even mention headaches with sharp pain behind their eyes. _

_Strangely enough, our research crew is not exhibiting any of these symptoms which lead me to believe this organism or substance requires an incubation period which we have not been here long enough for. Yet, I can't detect any traces of foreign microbes in any of the blood samples that I have analyzed. (She pauses, then continues with fear in her voice) _

_Or maybe it's something else. /_

Julia's eyes widened. Morgan gestured that they should hold off on their comments while Bess appeared to be vindicated.

/On screen: Med file Dr. Elizabeth Anson Day 1826

_I didn't think it was possible but after re-examining some of our community members I'm afraid it may be true. I think there's a problem with the biostat-implants I designed then recently injected into the members of this colony. I was so careful in my testing - I just don't understand. After conferring with Franklin, he believes that Eve may be able to assist us, so tonight we plan to slip away to our ship to contact her and attempt to remedy this problem. /_

_I can't let these people die. I can't live with that_./

Morgan skips ahead,

/On screen: Med. file Dr. Elizabeth Anson Day 1829

_It's working, I'm so relieved. There is nothing wrong with the actual implants themselves. Eve herself had readjusted the monitoring frequency too high which was causing the illness. Thank God we didn't lose anyone. _

_Franklin has been spending the last few days fine tuning Eve. He hopes we can go home soon. We've accomplished our mission. We've set up surveillance by implanting the monitoring devices and installing the orbital computer, in addition to gathering tons of information about the planet. _

_What more could the Council ask of us?_/

TBC in Ch 6 Deceptions part 2


	6. Deceptions Part 2

Stepping Stones

By Joan Powers

Chapter 6 Deceptions Part 2

True was tracing her name in the dirt with a stick as she watched members of the Eden Advance crew scurry about the housing units. She quickly grew tired of her activity, tossing her stick aside. Cameron and Walman passed by, sweat glimmering on their brows as they shouldered another crate of spare parts.

Though she was glad that Yale had postponed classes so they could continue to investigate the settlement, she was restless. She could continue to help Denner and Bess catalogue the items in the units, but she didn't feel like it. She could help her father try to retrofit the vehicles they had discovered.

How incredibly stupid to design them to consume fossil fuels. Even she knew that wasn't a readily renewable resource. How could those people have been so silly as to bring something so useless so far. She shook her head, considering herself extremely wise for her ten years. Her father had even admitted to her that he didn't think they had much of a chance to salvage a lot from those worn vehicles. But he was stubborn, he had to try.

She wondered what was happening with those frozen bodies. She elbowed Uly a bit roughly, "Come on. Let's go check out the refrigeration unit."

Uly replied, "Didn't your Dad ask us to stay right here?" Danziger's occasional flares of temper intimidated him.

True rolled her eyes, "Don't be such a baby. We'll still be close by. This is boring."

Uly turned to Paul. The younger boy shrugged his shoulders, interested in a change of scenery - especially since Bess had just been making comments about trimming his hair. The trio hiked over to the main facility.

As they entered the building, they could hear Morgan mumbling expletives. They giggled and crept to the doorway of the medical lab to spy on him.

"Damn it." Morgan's patience was worn very thin. This was one of his few talents and he wasn't going to blow it now and look like a fool before the entire Eden crew. He was going to figure this thing out if it was the last thing he did. He crouched down by the locking mechanism to attempt another maneuver, pressing a different combination of keys.

Pausing momentarily he quietly pleaded, "This is it. This is it. I just know this has to be it. Please, dear God..." He expectantly flicked a switch and the controls remained blank.

He banged the door in anger and only managed to bruise his hand, "Aw...Christ, what does it take to get you open! I bet you think this is funny, huh? Why do you torture me like this?" he accused the electronic lock, completely unaware of his audience.

He dejectedly sank to the floor, "Let's see, I've tried logic. I've tried prayer, begging, pleading, what's next... dumb luck? Maybe if I had some Morganite I could figure this out."

The kids chuckled - attracting Morgan's attention,

"What the... What are you brats doing here? Get out of here!" he shouted after them as he sprang to his feet. They continued to laugh as they ran away.

When they realized that Morgan wasn't pursuing them, they paused several feet outside of the main facility to catch their breath. Paul asked, "Is he always so silly?"

Uly and True exchanged knowing glances and answered simultaneously, "Yes!"

Paul wondered, "What was he talking about? What's Morganite?"

Uly explained, "It's those glowing stones the Terrians mine."

The young boy nodded seeming to recognize what Uly was referring to but he was confused, "Why does he want it?"

Uly added, "He used it to decode the combination for a lock once before. He got us into a lot of trouble with the Terrains. The rocks are intelligent."

Paul bragged to Uly and True, "I know where we can find some of the glowing rocks."

True rapidly responded, "Where?"

Paul offered, "I'll take you there."

"Let me get my Dad and we'll go" True added.

Paul taunted her, "Who's being a sissy now? Don't you want to be heroes? Show up with the glowing rocks so Morgan can open the lock then Julia can examine the bodies and save Uly's Mom?"

The thought was appealing. True was tired of feeling like some useless kid. She wanted to make an important contribution to the group. She wanted her efforts to count - to make a difference. She never got to do anything. Her father and Yale were very protective of the children. They would insist that the kids stay behind while the adults searched for the stones. It would be far too dangerous for her. "I'm in." She glared at Uly, "How about you?"

Uly replied weakly, "I guess so." He didn't feel comfortable about worrying Yale and Danziger, having already noticed the strain in their faces resulting from the last month and a half. But it would be exciting if they could help out. And maybe the stones would help him to contact the local Terrains and this tribe might be more sympathetic to his plea for help to save his mother.

XXXXXX

An hour or two had passed, with Julia glued to the Medical files. Her original intention had been to skim the entries, but she found dozens of cases with fascinating information about diseases the colonists had contracted on this planet, unusual side effects of various native vegetation, and Elizabeth's pioneer resourcefulness in her treatments.

She was captivated by the data, knowing it could be important for their survival on the planet. The sheer number of reports was causing her brain to fog. Soon she would take a break; the details were all starting to blend together. _Just one more,_ she assured herself.

She began to push her chair away from the counsel as the next entry played but one detail caught her attention. She rewound the tape to listen to it again,

/on screen: Med. file Dr. Elizabeth Anson Day 2288 (in progress)

_.. I'm not sure this is particularly a medical problem but several of the people that I've seen today have been complaining about recurring nightmares. Some are even dreaming about the dirt creatures that appear to be angry. _

_Even those creatures which periodically visit our camp during the daytime aren't docile as they once were. Their cry is far shriller and they have aggressively waved their staffs to discharge energy if we attempt to approach them. We still haven't been able to establish a method of communication, which frustrates us to no end. _

_I'm afraid that they are resisting us. Perhaps we have outstayed our welcome? I've tried administering sleep aids to assist these people, but they only seem to make the problem worse_./

"How's it going?" Morgan mumbled absently as he entered the room and approached the doctor. He was frazzled from his lock picking exercises and his rather humiliating encounter with the children.

She answered, "Found a lot of interesting information, though most of it doesn't pertain to our immediate problem. Any luck with that lock?" she asked anxiously, trying to keep her impatience out of her voice.

He shook his head, "I'm trying to clear my head before continuing." After he swiftly surveyed the area, he lowered his voice, "I wanted to talk with you about some of the files."

His conspirator tone attracted her attention. Dr. Heller nodded, indicating that he should proceed. She wondered what paranoid delusions the man was going to vent now.

"Doesn't it seem strange to you that Elizabeth would have left such incriminating information on the hard drive of the main computer?"

To her chagrin, Julia agreed completely with him.

He continued, "I mean, no self respecting spy would set himself up like that - would he? He would have stored the information on gear, or they could even have used the space ship computer."

Too tired to take offense at Morgan's not so subtle reminder of her past Julia replied, "Maybe she just slipped up. I haven't found any other entries in her Med. directory which would indicate that she was conducting secretive Council activities."

He raised his eyebrows, "Oh yeah? I did." She quickly moved aside to let Morgan show her his findings. He pushed some keys on the counsel to call up another file directory. "Look at this file name."

It was a bunch of characters, seemingly meaningless to Julia.

"Does anything about it look familiar?"

She strove to push her brain, but she was reaching capacity.

He hinted, "Look like any old Council codes?"

That was it.

"And wait till you see what it's about." He called up the data and displayed it on screen. It was all computer jargon. Julia looked weakly to Morgan who seemed to derive great pleasure from the fact that he was explaining this to her, "This is Eve."

A flabbergasted Julia replied, "What?"

"This is all about Eve. How they set her up and programmed her. There are over 20 files which detail all her functions and operations. What do you think now?"

Morgan was right - that made no sense at all. These colonists had fled from the Stations to escape the Council. They would never have endorsed such projects. And these people weren't stupid. At least one of them would have recognized this information just as Morgan had.

He suggested, "I think we should download this information into Yale. She's still up there. Could be very useful to know how Eve works"

Julia smiled and patted him on the shoulder, "For once Morgan, I couldn't agree with you more."

XXXXX

True, Uly and Paul, laden with backpacks and flashlights hiked up a narrow trail. They were near the northern edge of Independence colony which was bounded by rugged hills. The nuclear powered generator and containment field were also in this vicinity, but this wouldn't pose a problem since the Eden Advance had established that the area was not contaminated with radioactivity.

They continued walking along the path until they encountered a pair of crossed Terrian staffs planted in the ground, blocking their way. True halted and said with some trepidation, "Maybe we shouldn't go. That means that the Terrians don't want us here, doesn't it?"

This time Uly bravely retorted, "You can stay behind if you want to. I'm part Terrian, I'm sure they won't bother me. And since you're with me, you'll probably be accepted too."

True shoved aside her reservations and the group continued. They hiked until they reached a sheer rock wall with several bushes and rocks at its base. Uly gave Paul a puzzled look,

"Are you sure you remember how to get there?"

Paul assured them, "Yeah, just give me a minute." He fumbled about the area, tugging various shrubs and rocks. Finally, one gave way as he touched it. "Here it is. Here's the entrance" He motioned to a small hole in the ground which was barely large enough for a child, but certainly not for an adult.

Uly was confused, "The Terrians wouldn't have that type of entrance. They'd never fit."

Paul impatiently added, "Big deal. It gets us where we want to go, doesn't it? Come on." He fell to his knees and began to crawl into the cavern.

XXXXXX

Alonzo entered the computer room to discover Julia slumped over in a chair by the console, blankly staring off into space. He rushed to her side, "Julia, are you all right? What's wrong?" As he gently touched her shoulder with his hands, she lost her dazed expression,

"Um... nothing Alonzo, I'm just tired. It seems like the more information we discover about this place, the more questions we generate."

Alonzo wasn't sure if he should pursue this conversation. He was curious about this settlement and the inhabitants. But they were dead. Julia was not and she was his first priority. He began to coax her to relax, massaging her shoulders while speaking softly to her, "Why don't you and I go back to our camp? Get a little something to eat then catch a nap? A change of scenery ought to help you to concentrate better."

It wasn't working. He knew that look. Once Julia was engaged in something, it was difficult, almost impossible to tear her away. He decided to shift gears, "Did you find anything out about their illness from the Med. files?"

She responded, "Nothing concrete except it doesn't appear to be due to the biostat-implants as Bess had feared. That particular incident took place several years earlier."

He nodded, having already heard the other woman's version of the story. "So what's your strategy Doc?" he smiled engagingly.

"I had intended to skim through the files but they're all so interesting that I've just been playing them sequentially."

Alonzo shook his head. "Looks like you need my assistance. Show me what you've been examining." She complied. "Why don't you just jump ahead to the last entry? Cut to the chase?" She shrugged her shoulders, while he forwarded the log to the final entry in that directory,

/ Med File Dr. Elizabeth Anson Day 2726

Her appearance is haggard. Her face is tear stained and she is speaking quietly.

_Today we cremated Peter Anderson. I just don't understand it. For over seven years people have been living on this planet, relatively healthy and happy. On the surface, the landscape still looks the same. The trees are growing and our crops are thriving. We still see the sunset every night. Yet in the past six months, we are changing, on the inside. Most of us have been tormented by nightmares and are having difficulty concentrating. _

_Two weeks ago, Peter was fine. He had a lot of dreams about the creatures, but physiologically he was okay. Then he began to have trouble with his coordination and memory. His decline was rapid, at the end he didn't even recognize his own wife. (She pauses to wipe her eyes with the back of her hand.) _

_The syndrome seems to target the central nervous system of each of its victims but I just can't isolate any causative agent. For some the decline has been rapid but for others it has been agonizingly slow, taking several months. And the fact that it has taken all of the children has been absolutely devastating to group morale. _

_I had thought that the children's immune systems weren't as well developed as an adult's or that exposure to some environmental influence at the Stations had provided the adults with the protection that the children lacked. But that theory is irrelevant, Peter and others adults have died and several others are beginning to exhibit more advanced symptoms. _

_I've done every test I can think of. I haven't been able to isolate any virus or foreign organism of any kind. After five months of intense study of this syndrome all I can conclude is that it seems like this planet is rejecting us and that it can never be our true home. /_

XXXXXXX

As Paul strolled along the dark tunnel, he called back to Uly, "Do you have your gear recorder on?"

Uly replied, "Yeah, but what good will that do? We can't transmit from here. The signal won't carry."

Paul insisted, "Just keep it on. We're almost there."

True brought up the rear. She flashed her light about the dank cave walls. The tunnels were kinda cool but also a little creepy. She wished her father were by her side. Then this would be an exciting adventure. Regardless of the brave front she put on for the boys, she was scared. She followed them into an open area. Paul pointed his flashlight towards a cavern wall where some stones glowed as the beam of his light touched them. The children approached them.

"The stones, there's something wrong with them." True expressed with consternation.

"What do you mean? These are Morganite aren't they?" Paul asked.

True responded, "I think so, but they don't look right. The stones my Dad mined were bright orange. They glowed and gave off heat. These only glow when you shine a light on them and they're not hot." She demonstrated by placing a hand on one of the rocks.

"The color's not right either." Uly added. These stones were a ruddy earthy color.

Paul was beginning to get upset and he stammered, "This is what you wanted, isn't it? Maybe it will help anyway? We've come all this way. Why don't you guys get a few to take back with us?"

Humoring Paul, Uly began to unpack his pick to dig out a stone or two, while True did likewise. As the two children were using their tools to loosen some stones True asked Uly, "Do you think that this weird looking Morganite has something to do with the altered Dream Plane?"

He shrugged, "Could be. Let's ask your Dad or Yale when we get back. What do you think Paul?" When the boy did not reply, Uly repeated himself, "Paul, what do you think?" He scanned the area about him, the younger boy was no longer there. He and True exchanged timid glances.

"He probably just went exploring to see if he could find better stones." True quietly rationalized. "He was hurt when we didn't like these."

"Yeah, well I think we better get going. Hey Paul!" Uly called while stowing his rocks in his pack.

True clutched Uly's shoulder, "Did you hear something?" Before Uly could reply, the snarling sound repeated itself at a higher decibel. "Let's get out of here" True cried.

"But we can't leave Paul," Uly countered.

Terrains began to file in from each side of the cavern. True's eyes grew wide and she screamed. She and Uly huddled close together. She hadn't been this close to a Terrain, not since her misadventures with Gaal. And these Terrains seemed odd. Their cries resembled hostile snarls. They surrounded the children and began to direct their anguished voices towards Uly.

"What are they saying?" True asked frantically.

"I...I don't know" he was too terrified to concentrate. He had never felt frightened by the presence of the Terrains before, but now his stomach was knotted up tight. He studied the creatures. Something was wrong with them. Rather than having the smooth leathery exterior of most of their species, their entire bodies seemed moist.

True cried to Uly, "Maybe you should try to talk to them on the Dream Plane?"

He crouched and shut his eyes. As he listened to their cries, he realized that these were the creatures in his dreams. They had been trying to contact him for over a week now. He kept his eyes closed tightly to concentrate on their words. They recognized that he was part Terrian, in fact they had been drawn to him because of that. But they seemed to believe that he was partly responsible for their predicament. And that he could help them.

He tried to respond to them, trilling as he knew but this tribe could not comprehend him. Instead they became more agitated and the intensity of their voices rose. Despite Uly's repeated attempts, he wasn't able to communicate with the creatures at all which further increased their displeasure. As the Terrains crossed their staffs before the children's eyes, their last vision was of the shrieking creatures.

-----(to be continued in Stepping Stones: Hope Chapters 7&8


	7. Hope Part 1

Stepping Stones

by Joan Powers

Chapter 7 Hope

**Author's Notes**:

(1) In the previous installment of Stepping Stones (Deceptions), Dr. Heller discovered Elizabeth's medical files which described how she felt that the planet was rejecting them. In addition, Paul led Uly and True to a cave to search for Morganite. However, they encountered a group of hostile Terrians. This story continues with Julia's search to discover what killed the members of Independence colony, and the Eden Advance's efforts to locate the children.

(2) Special thanks to Vicki Firth and Paula Sanders for their greatly appreciated editorial comments, and the inspiration Vicki provided in her story, "Faith and Illusions".

(voice of John Danziger)

_Hope, a four letter word which continues to mock me. It has always been a precious commodity which has never come naturally to me. Especially not to a drone, whose station in life is dictated to him. He has a limited role in determining his future, with essentially no opportunity to change his lot. _

_I was lucky enough to have met Elle and shared our brief time together. No amount of hope had ever restored her to my side. I had thought that my capacity for the emotion had left me. Yet when we crashed on to this crazy planet, it slowly crept back. _

_Without realizing it, I had started to believe in Devon's optimistic outlook regarding our future. That tomorrow could be better than today. That a man could take charge of his own destiny and establish a better world for his kid on this planet. _

_Tonight all of that is crashing down on my head. I have to face the fact that Devon is gone. No matter how I try to fool myself. She's gone. And now our children are missing_.

XXXXX

Baines, Walman, Magus, Bess and Yale congregated about the campfire as the glow of twilight was finally extinguished by darkness. A few paused to rest - pulling up crates or logs, while others refreshed themselves gulping down water from tin cups. They were pensive, avoiding conversation and even eye contact with one another, afraid to admit the truth - that the children were truly missing. No one had found them. Morgan had been the last to see them - that afternoon. Baines and Walman stared at the ground, feeling sick at the thought that those kids might be in trouble and Bess swallowed hard to choke down tears which were threatening to form in her throat.

The sound of footsteps heralded Danziger's arrival. He looked anxiously towards the crew, who could not meet his gaze. Needing no further explanation, he abruptly turned to retrieve some lights off the Trans Rover which would be necessary for continuing the search. As he strode out of range, Magus cautiously asked,

"Think we should see how he's doing?" Though she wasn't going to volunteer.

Yale advised, "No. Now is not the time for consoling, we need to reorganize and continue searching. We will locate them." The group got down to business and discussed how to divide the territory then formed new search teams, while Bess volunteered to coordinate their communications. Most of the absent Eden crew members were still at Independence settlement continuing their investigation.

Walman solemnly advised Bess, "I think you better call the others. Get them to pitch in. God only knows what could happen at night." He stopped himself before further elaborating about his fears, not wanting to make the situation worse. Earlier, he and Baines had privately shared their concerns that the small boy Paul really was a Council spy and that the kids might already be secreted away in some inaccessible location.

As Danziger passed by the group, Yale called to him, John, come here. We need to coordinate our efforts."

Reluctantly, he approached the tutor. The mechanic vacantly studied the flames of the campfire as he listened to Yale's summary of their efforts and plans, then he turned. The older man put his hand on his shoulder,

"I don't think you should go alone. Let me accompany you."

Danziger replied rather gruffly, "No, I'd rather be alone."

Before Yale could argue his point, Morgan and Cameron joined the group. The two men seemed excited, both wearing broad grins and walking with a bounce to their steps. The Eden crew members waited expectantly, some of the tension beginning to lessen within them.

Morgan proudly announced to his attentive audience, "Guess what? Yours truly has finally managed to crack the code to that lock on the refrigeration unit and right at this very moment Julia is examining those bodies." Morgan moved to take a bow, but noticed no one seemed enthused by his news. In fact, they were disappointed. Perplexed by his cold reception he asked, "What's going on? Didn't you hear what I said..."

Bess dashed over to her husband and grabbed his forearm in a cautionary fashion. Gauging the grim features about him, Morgan figured out what was happening. Puffed up with the giddy confidence of having cracked not one but two very difficult codes within the past twenty-four hours and lacking proper rest, he spoke before he thought, "I told you that kid was bad news. He's probably taken them to some Council outpost."

Total silence and aghast expressions greeted his comments. Bess dug her nails into his arm so deeply that she broke the skin.

"Hey, that hurts!" Turning to the others, he argued, "You know I'm right." Danziger glared menacingly at Morgan.

Using both of her hands, Bess yanked at her husband with all her strength firmly urging, "Morgan, let's go."

He hesitated, still confused.

"NOW" she growled.

Sensing the growing hostility of the group, Morgan wisely allowed his wife to lead him away to their tent.

XXXXXX

Alonzo was crawling on his hands and knees, pressing every square foot of the metal flooring that was within his reach. After covering the entire unit, he rose to stretch and give his aching knees a break. He was convinced that the children might have discovered some type of secret passage whose opening was in one of the housing units. However, it wasn't in this one. Undaunted, the young pilot vowed to move on to the next unit. As he turned off the lights and shut the door, a shining lumalight revealed the presence of another Eden crew member. It was Danziger. Alonzo was startled when he noticed his friend's worn-down appearance.

"How's it going?" Danziger dully asked. Since Alonzo had explained his theory earlier over gear, the younger man replied,

"No luck with the first unit, but I've got fourteen more to go, plus the large buildings. I will leave no stone unturned." He offered a mock salute to attempt to cheer him up, but it was in vain. Earnestly he added, "You know, if you really believe this is some harebrained idea, Julia and I will go where ever you need us."

Danziger was tempted but he absently replied, "Na, keep doing what you're doing. Julia's work is just as important. Keep an eye on her fly-boy, keep her safe."

Alonzo promised, "You know I will." In an attempt to distract them from their current worries, Alonzo commented, "Did Julia tell you she found some of Elizabeth's data on the disease that might have killed these people? Elizabeth had some type of 'planetary immune response' theory. I didn't fully understand it, but it gives Julia more information to work with."

"That's good"

The pilot could tell that Danziger wasn't really listening. His heart was tied up elsewhere. Placing a hand on his friend's shoulder he assured him, "We'll find them, I just know we will. They're gonna be okay."

"Still no contact with the Terrians?" Danziger was pulling at straws.

The younger man shook his head, "I've had some rather weird and disturbing dreams but nothing I can make any sense of." He shuddered just thinking about them - those awful inhuman sounds pierced right through him, he had never experienced anything quite like that. Danziger adjusted his pack and moved to resume his searching when Alonzo added, "Hey, what about you?"

Danziger shot him a puzzled look, "What are you talking about?"

Although Alonzo used a lighter tone, he was deadly serious, "Julia and I are looking out for each over, who's looking after you?"

The mechanic assured him, "I can take care of myself, buddy"

XXXXXX

Morgan was tossing and turning on his cot in his tent. Though he was exhausted, he could not sleep. His wife had threatened to disown him if he set one foot outside of their tent. He had rarely seen her this angry. Their time spent on G889 had revealed to him that Bess's seemingly sweet nature was deceptive. Beneath that gorgeous exterior was a strong woman filled with survival instincts and enough determination for the both of them. Fearful of further aggravating her, he obeyed his wife's directives and stewed over recent events as he attempted to rest.

A few hours later, he was still trying to make sense of the situation when his wife entered their tent. He sat up and called to her, "Bess?"

She wouldn't look at him.

Fear gripped Morgan in his gut.

She ignored him as she riffled through a pack to search for some item. Once she located the sweater she wanted, she pulled it over her head, straightened it out then started to leave.

Panic rose within him - he couldn't let her go, so he rose and begged her, "Bess, please."

She couldn't ignore his pleading tones. "What is it Morgan?" she answered in a monotone.

He took a step to try to close the distance between them, but she rapidly compensated by stepping backwards. She avoided eye contact.

"Honey, are you still mad at me?"

"Yes I am" she replied quietly.

Morgan stammered, "Can't we talk about it? Please?"

"I don't know. I'm still pretty upset." she explained, consciously maintaining control of her voice.

He came out asked her, "What did I do wrong?"

She retorted impatiently, "Do you really have to ask?"

He was shocked by her sarcasm. The only other time he had seen her act this way was when their marriage had been in immanent danger. Horrified at the prospect of life on this bleak planet without his wife's support, he swallowed his pride and replied humbly, "Yeah, I guess I do."

For the first time Bess raised her gaze to look into her husband's face. His eyes were filled with frustration, confusion and...sorrow. She took a minute to collect her thoughts and tried to express herself in a neutral fashion, "Do you think telling half of the camp that Paul was a spy and took the children was a very nice thing to do?" Her voice caught halfway through her statement and her eyes glistened with tears.

"But Bess, most of the camp is probably thinking the same thing. Don't you think I'm right?"

She shouted vehemently, "Damnit Morgan. It doesn't matter if you're right! What matters is that those kids are missing and it was heartless and cruel and selfish to throw that in Danziger's face tonight!" Her anger had returned in full force.

But he still hadn't gotten the message, "Let's face reality, I could very well be right - admit it."

She moved to leave, "I refuse to play these games Morgan. If your being right is the only thing that matters, then I hope you enjoy your own company." She continued heading towards the tent flap and Morgan launched himself at her, grabbing her from behind and wrapping his arms about her - effectively anchoring her in place.

"Don't go Bess, please. You're the most important person in the world to me. I can't make it here without you. Please, help me make things right between you and me."

She didn't reply, only stood solidly. In frustration and desperation he started to babble -saying whatever came to his head.

"Do you know how hard I've been working on setting up that computer system and decoding those passwords? I've barely slept for the past day and half. Seems to me that I've worked hard and sacrificed and nobody seems to be even acknowledging my contributions. I think I have a right to be mad."

Bess replied, "Morgan, sometimes you have to grow up and think about someone besides yourself."

He flinched at the impact of her words then decided to choose a different tactic. Trying to imagine what Bess might be feeling he probed, "Honey, are you upset because the boy might not be who you thought he was?"

She shook her head.

He continued, "I know that you cared a lot about him. That you're a kind and loving person who wanted to take care of that boy... regardless of who he was. Are you afraid that something might have happened to him?"

She nodded vigorously and turned to place her head against her husband's shoulder, as she began to sob softly. He readjusted his arms about her,

"I know how much you care for True and Uly too. I've been very impressed by the way you've managed and cared for them. Somehow, Bess you always manage to impress me." He caressed her back with one of his hands, his cheek pressed against hers as he spoke softly with sincerity, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I don't even know why you put up with me. I'm weak. It seems like no matter what I do, I mess up. I try. I really do. Maybe your life would be better without me."

Her heart melted upon hearing his words, she twisted her head to meet her husband's gaze, "Morgan, that's why I love you. Because you do try. Just keep trying." She sniffed then smiled warmly towards her husband. "Want to come help me coordinate the search?"

XXXXXX

Danziger used his lumalight to probe a dark cavity within a thicket of trees. The dense canopy of leaves didn't allow much of the natural light provided by the twin moons to filter through. He was meticulous in his search, driven by gut-wrenching fear which was festering within him. Images of his little girl lying prone with blood dripping down her face haunted him.

Granted, the kids had an annoying habit of wandering off on occasion but they _always_ came back at dusk, or by the next meal. He had to reach them before it was too late.

Yet there was also another possibility, which he was stubbornly resisting - dragging his heels all the way. Ironically enough, the logical part of John Danziger would have been voicing Morgan's suspicions long before the government liaison had. Yet, his heart would not, could not accept the possibility of that being reality. He didn't understand it, but he felt as close to Paul as he did to Uly. Ruefully he wondered if his common sense had been frozen along with Devon in that cold sleep chamber. At least it was a warm night. But they were just kids. Young kids. He couldn't begin to contemplate life without them.

XXXXXX

Alonzo was crouched on the floor outside of the Medical lab while Dr. Heller proceeded to decontaminate herself. He sighed and rested his head against his knees, his search for secret panels had been draining...and futile. In addition, there had been no promising news from the others. The door opened and Julia leaned against the door frame, clearly at the edge of her physical limits. He stepped over to allow her to lean against him. His somber expression lead her to frown,

"Oh no. They're still missing?" The young doctor was clearly distressed. Alonzo wrapped a supportive arm about her and proceeded to escort her out of the building as they talked.

"Alonzo, what are we going to do? They've been missing over twelve hours. Something terrible must have happened."

Smoothing her hair with his hand, he answered her, "We've looked everywhere we could in the dark. We're going to have to wait until morning to continue." It was difficult to admit, but darkness and fatigue were undermining the effectiveness of their efforts. With regret, Bess called them back to camp.

Julia was thinking out loud, "But there are no other human beings within miles of here. We searched the area thoroughly the other day when we looked for Paul's parents. And if Reily..or.. Eve is manipulating some agent, they should know that Uly is most effective as the Terrain liaison when he is associated with us. This doesn't make sense."

Rather than poke holes in her arguments, he kissed her temple, "Sh...Querida, you need to rest. We're not going to come up any answers right now." To change the subject, he commented, "Tell me how the autopsy went."

Despite her fatigue, her doctor demeanor kicked in, "Considering the fact that those corpses have been in cold storage for over fifty years, I was able to get a lot of information. Although I've only performed one autopsy so far, some of the internal damage looks similar to what was initiated in Devon's system."

"Can you tell what caused the disease from your findings?"

"I have to perform a series of tests on the tissues. I've ruled out any microorganisms which Elizabeth could have detected with her equipment and I'm concentrating on tests which might confirm the presence of more recently discovered agents, along with some other types of tests. I just finished setting up some samples which will take several hours to incubate." A tiny spark of hope within her had been ignited, the diagnosis could be just around the corner.

XXXXXX

Bess pulled over a crate to join Yale who was sitting by the blazing campfire. Other than the crackling and popping of the fire, the night was still.

"Bess, you must be exhausted. Go get some sleep" Yale warmly encouraged.

She sighed, "I can't sleep. I just keep thinking about the kids." In a quite voice she added, "Maybe Morgan was right."

He replied, "That is a distinct possibility."

Feeling awkward and becoming slightly flushed Bess attempted to explain, "Morgan didn't mean what he said before... No, that's not true. His timing was just awful."

Yale leaned towards her, "Bess, you are not responsible for your husband's actions. He is an adult. However he didn't say anything that the entire group wasn't already aware of. As you said, his statement was um...inappropriate for that time."

Some of her embarrassment began to dissipate. "Is he back?" motioning towards Danziger's tent.

Yale nodded, "I insisted that he rest."

Bess's eyes widened, "And he did?"

Yale chuckled, "I can be very persuasive." While he had convinced the younger man to return to camp, he doubted he was able to sleep.

"He blames himself, doesn't he?"

The tutor shrugged, "Blame will not bring them back."

"How are you doing Yale? Devon and Uly were practically your only family."

Somewhat embarrassed by her scrutiny he stoically replied, "It's hard. Just when I was coming to gripes dealing with her absence, this happens. Thank you for your concern Bess, but I think it's a bit premature to anticipate the worst. We must keep trying."

XXXXXX

Complete darkness surrounded him. Was the chamber actually that dark or had the effects of the Terrian's lightening staffs not worn off? Blinking rapidly did little to improve his vision. True was slumped against him, he could feel the weight of her head against his shoulder and hear her faint snoring. He attempted to flex his stiff legs, but his restraints were still intact. Uly had lost all track of time - having no idea how long they had been captives. There had been no sign of Paul so he prayed that his friend had been able to escape to get help.

The Terrians had been periodically visiting the children, continuing to shriek and snarl at them. The noise was deafening. Being in their presence was even more terrifying than his dreams had been. The children had clung to each other through out the ordeal. At one point, True became so frightened that she started screaming back at the creatures until she made herself hoarse. This peaceful moment was a soothing balm.

However, Uly was anxious for the Terrians to return. For he was beginning to understand the urgency in their voices and the implications of their accusations.

XXXXXX

Negative, negative, negative - all of Dr. Heller's initial test samples indicated negative results. Yet she was not discouraged. Detecting actual viral material after such a prolonged storage period was admittedly a long shot. Her other tests would provide indirect evidence regarding the nature of the organism which had caused the disease and be more likely to provide promising results.

As she washed out some test tubes, she continued to ponder Elizabeth's planetary immune response theory. As far as she could tell, the earlier group of colonists had not been able to develop much of a relationship with the Terrians but they were able to deduce that this planet functioned as a living entity and was not necessarily identical to Earth. Elizabeth's theory suggested that G889 found humans to be a detriment, so it developed its own defense system to reject or remove the foreign invaders - similar to the human body's immune system. She hypothesized that the planet may have taken some time to devise the proper agent - which would explain how the people of Independence colony had been able to exist for almost 10 years.

But if that were so, how had the Council scientists been able to survive? Had they attempted to escape before they exhibited symptoms of the infection or had the Independence settlers discovered their treachery and thrown them out?

She froze in place as she wondered if Elizabeth and Franklin had actually died from the cold sleep syndrome. Dr. Anson's logs indicated that individuals varied greatly in susceptibility and in their response to the foreign virus - some rapidly declining and dying within two weeks while others suffered a variety of symptoms for up to a year.

Suddenly Julia swallowed hard and beads of sweat glistened on her forehead. If the analogy were valid, assuming that G889 behaved as a 'living organism', its immune response would be intact. Like the human body, once an antibody was prepared against any type of pathogen, the information to combat the invader upon re-exposure was readily available. Their arrival could have triggered the production of those 'anti-human antibodies' which the planet could be actively releasing - even now. It was just a matter of time. Devon may have been the most sensitive to the agent which would account for her rapid decline. She sank down onto the floor and curled up, hugging her knees against her chest.

_We're dead. Devon was the first. We're all going to die here._ Closing her eyes tightly, she attempted to stop shaking and slow down her breathing. She choked down a sob which threatened to rise in her throat then began to berate herself,

_Think Heller, think. You're a doctor - you can do better than this._

What was happening to her? She wasn't generally given to such irrational emotional outbursts. In fact, her chromosomes were skewed against this type of reaction. If Dr. Heller had paid as much attention to her own health as to her charges, she would have readily diagnosed that she was suffering from severe fatigue.

_Think. You're missing something. Look objectively at the facts. Do they support these conclusions? There's got to be a logical explanation. _

As her breathing became more regular, she was able to calm down and think clearly about evidence which might contradict the theory.

Almost immediately it came to her. What about the penal colonists? She had asked Elizabeth about them but not received a satisfactory answer. If G889 had an overall immune response to reject all human invaders, they should be dead. But they were not - in fact some had lived on this planet up to 20 and 30 years.

Perhaps this immune response could have been a local phenomena. After all, there were no other living creatures for miles. She wondered what those colonists might have done to initiate such a drastic response from the planet. And since the Council ship was not in the immediate vicinity, how could Devon have contracted this disease? Most importantly, how long could they safely remain here before they too became ill? The children had been the first victims in Independence, perhaps it had already started.

TBC

XXXXXX


	8. Hope Part 2

Stepping Stones

By Joan Powers

Chapter 8 Hope Part 2

Scanning the rocks and trees of a nearby ravine with jumpers, Walman was unable to detect any signs of the kids or any disturbances which might have indicated their presence. He frowned and thoughtfully rubbed his chin as he lowered the jumpers.

In the daylight he and Baines had discovered faint traces of what could be construed as small footprints along a trail which was adjacent to the nuclear containment field. Yet the ground rapidly became much harder, so it wasn't much of a lead to follow.

Walman shook his head, he had hoped that if they continued to climb along this crude path that they might uncover some other evidence confirming that the children had come this way - such as a piece of torn cloth on a tree branch or some type of indentation in the shrubbery. The only unusual item that they had encountered was a pair of crossed Terrian staffs blocking the pathway. After a moment of contemplation, the two men reasoned that finding the kids was worth potentially upsetting some Terrians. Besides, Alonzo hadn't had any contact with them and the staffs looked pretty old.

Baines urgently called over to him, "Hey, come check this out."

Walman maneuvered about a few rocks and rounded the corner to join him. "What do you make of this?"

The area predominantly consisted of a sheer rock wall with small shrubs and rocks dotting its base. But what commanded the men's attention was a section about 15 meters tall and 25 meters wide - rubble, dirt and debris which suggested that a landslide had occurred.

"Could it be a cave in? Maybe the kids could be trapped behind there?" Baines asked nervously as he knelt to attempt to dig with his hands.

Walman squinted as he took a step forward to examine the area more closely. He gingerly tapped the formation in several spots then replied, "Don't think so. It seems pretty settled, like it's been here a while. Look - there are even weeds growing in the dirt. But somehow, this doesn't look natural to me" Walman commented. "Think the diggers were bothering these people and they decided to try to block them off?"

Baines shrugged, "Who knows. But it wouldn't make a difference anyway because they can travel through the ground." He chuckled, "Looks like someone went to a lot of trouble for nothing."

XXXXXX

As the shrill tones of the Terrians grew fainter, True exhaled an audible sigh of relief, "Thank God they're gone. I don't know how much more of this I can take."

She leaned into Uly, thankful he was with her. She couldn't imagine enduring all this by herself - those Terrians terrified her. There was so much venom and rage in the Terrians that she feared they would try to harm them. She had no idea what they wanted and she dreaded anticipating the creatures' next course of action.

As she became more agitated, she tried to stop herself from thinking about their situation. Where was her Dad? Was she ever going to get to see him again? If she got out of this situation, she promised herself and whatever powers that rule the universe that she would never disobey her father again.

Uly whispered, "I feel sorry for them." Even in the darkness, he could feel True's eyes boring into him.

"What? Are you nuts?" she gasped uncomfortably, becoming anxious that Uly was losing his mind.

He replied, "I'm not enjoying this either. But they can't communicate any other way. They're desperate."

True responded rapidly, "So you can finally understand them?"

"I think so" was his tentative answer.

"What's wrong with them?"

"They're sick. Didn't you notice their skin when we first saw them? I think it's affecting their ability to interact with the planet and it's driving them crazy."

True remembered that those Terrians looked different from others, the slimy texture of their skin had reminded her of...something - she couldn't recall exactly. Hopeful that Uly could supply more answers, she continued to ply him with questions,

"But...do they know what they're doing? Will they hurt us? What do they want from us?"

Uly didn't care to answer her. The truth of the matter was that the creatures were so sick that they could be extremely dangerous - they might inadvertently harm the children. As the kids had already experienced, these Terrians still had lightening. Uly was convinced that the only reason they were still safe was the fact that these creatures recognized his bond with them. Not wanting to frighten True, he rationalized,

"I don't think so. They've provided us with food and water and they seem to be aware that I'm part Terrian. They think I can help them so I don't believe they'll hurt us." He mentally crossed his fingers and prayed that his statements would be valid.

"Why are they so angry?"

"Like I said, their sickness has affected their ability to interact with the planet. I don't completely understand it, but they seem to be saying that the Earth is rejecting them - it won't accept them."

True frowned, "What does that mean?"

A beam of light cutting through the utter darkness of the chamber caused the children to wince and draw back. Putting her hands before her eyes and blinking rapidly to regain equilibrium True cried out, "Who's there?"

A rumpled looking Paul with flashlight in hand motioned to them, "Come on. I don't know how long they'll be gone. We have to hurry!" Uly nodded towards their bonds and the younger boy speedily located a knife in his pack to loosen them.

Uly excitedly asked, "What happened to you? Did they catch you too? Or did you go get help?"

Paul hesitated, "No..I'll tell you...later. Come on, we have to hurry. They'll be very angry if they find us walking around."

True and Uly staggered to their feet, their legs tingling after being bound for over twenty four hours. Paul put an arm around each of them, and the three hobbled along as best they could.

As they hurried through the elaborate labyrinth of tunnels, Paul seemed to know exactly where he was going, never once hesitating about which fork of a path to take. It dawned upon Uly,

"You knew all about this place and these Terrians, didn't you?"

The younger boy remained silent.

Uly was confused, "Why did you bring us here if you knew they were dangerous?"

Paul responded, "I think you know."

XXXXXX

"Hmm" Yale replied as he listened, engrossed in Dr. Heller's explanation of Elizabeth's theory and her own test results, "So Dr. Anson believed that G889 had developed its own type of immune response and that particular agent is what killed the members of Independence Colony." He stroked his beard as he thought, "But how does she account for the fact that the members of the community didn't manifest symptoms at the same time?"

Julia explained, "She felt that individuals had different tolerances toward the invader. Some people's immune systems were more successful than others at prolonging the full onset of the disease. There is precedence for this type of behavior."

Yale wasn't convinced, "Sounds logical, but it seems like there ought to be a better explanation. Let's see." He began to pace about the medical lab, "Julia you've focused on identifying some type of bacterial or viral agent. But true antibodies are proteins. Perhaps we need to expand the parameters of our search."

She snapped to attention, "You're right. In fact, any type of environmental contaminant might have caused these types of effects." Anticipating the tutor's next comments she replied, "Yet, I've already tested the local vegetation and water for known contaminants, and Elizabeth performed this type of analysis on the environment and her patients as well ."

"But Julia, don't you see - it wouldn't have to be present in the environment in large amounts. These people were here for almost 10 years - plenty of time to allow a local contaminant to accumulate in their bodies. Perhaps this compound could be processed by the human body in low amounts but once a threshold was reached, accumulation of higher levels of the compound would lead to illness and eventually death. Individual variation in the metabolic pathways that process the compound could account for why the progression of the disease varied so from person to person. Look at history - the fall of the Roman empire. A civilization destroyed in part by lead poisoning. Our bodies can actually process 2 mg of lead per day but once those levels are exceeded, disastrous affects are manifested - mania, neurological problems, eventually death. And to carry our analogy even further, lead poisoning has more severe effects on the developing bodies of children than adults"

"And all the children of the colony died first." Julia was getting very excited.

Yale continued putting the facts together, "The reason Elizabeth and Franklin weren't exhibiting symptoms may have been because they came to the planet two years after the original settlers. Their internal levels of the contaminant may not have reached the danger mark yet."

Julia wondered, "How would that account for Devon then? Less than 6 months on G889 certainly isn't equivalent to 9 years of exposure."

He phrased himself carefully, not wanting to crush the young doctor's spirits. Gently placing a hand on her shoulder he encouraged, "Let's focus on the colony first - one thing at a time. Can you run more specific tests for metabolites?"

Julia nodded and added, "Elizabeth's results from these types of tests indicated no unusual compounds or altered levels of metabolites." A broad grin began to cover her face, transforming her haggard appearance and captivating the tutor's attention, "That's where my medical equipment comes in. Significant advances have been made in spectrometer technology. Especially when it comes to _identifying small molecules_."

She and Yale smiled, basking in the glory of the potential behind their ideas. As she turned to organize the samples that she needed Yale added,

"I wonder why Elizabeth didn't share this information with us? She must have realized that with our advances in medical technology we would have a better chance of diagnosing their illness."

That was a question which had plagued Julia as well. Inwardly, she was relieved that the woman had not been directly involved in the death of all those people. She had liked Elizabeth and felt they could have been friends had circumstances been different. They had a lot in common - she had sensed that Elizabeth had grown on G889, just as she had. Striving to come up with a rational explanation, she voiced,

"Maybe she had been struggling so long with the problem that she just lost hope. Her records, while I haven't read them all, are very detailed. They contain months of tests, theories and reports. The disease ultimately affected the nervous system - the symptoms sounded horrible. Most mild cases experienced depression, some memory loss, slowness in coordination, along with minor aches and pains with some bleeding. As it became worse, leading to total system failure, many had paranoid delusions - they didn't even recognize friends or family. As their vital organs deteriorated, they lost their minds as well. And I can't even imagine what they went through watching all those kids die." They were silent a moment, for the children were still missing.

"I agree, it must have been difficult for her to see such suffering and not be able to alleviate it."

"But Yale, we told her that the penal colonists survived - that should have indicated that there was hope after all. Why was she so convinced that we didn't have a chance to survive here?"

"Perhaps she was getting sick herself. Depression was one of the first symptoms to manifest itself. Or there may be something else about this planet that we aren't aware of yet. We'll have to continue searching their files."

"I want to know why they tried to leave. If they were just becoming sick, perhaps they thought the doctors at the Stations could save them. But then why sabotage Eve in the process? Why leave classified Council information on the main frame computer?"

XXXXXX

As the kids hiked down a hill, Baines and Walman were the first to catch sight of them and they used their gear to contact the others. More than half of the camp converged on the site within fifteen minutes. True immediately flung herself into her Dad's arms and unabashedly broke out sobbing. She clung to him tightly, not about to let him go. Yale wrapped his arms about Uly and Paul, to welcome them back.

"What happened? Are you two okay?" he asked, seeing how upset True was.

Uly responded, "We'll be all right. It was really scary, but we'll be fine." Some of the pieces of the puzzle were finally fitting together. While he wasn't aware of all of the details, he was pretty certain that Paul's mission had been to ensure that he met those Terrians. Without Paul's interference, he would have dismissed his disturbing dreams as problems with the Dream Plane and he would never have encountered the creatures. Now with his understanding of their situation, even the young boy of nine knew, came certain obligations.

"The Terrians need our help" he announced to the group. Many gave him confused glances, the children were so grimy and pale that their main concern for the moment was their safety. Uly repeated himself a little louder - insisting, "The Terrians need our help."

With True in his arms, Danziger approached him and assured him softly, "Hey buddy, we can talk it all out later. Let's get you guys cleaned up first, okay?" He smiled warmly towards the boys.

"So what happened?" Morgan inquired, eyeing Paul in a not so subtle manner.

Bess moved to place her hands on the small child's shoulders, "Maybe we should talk about it later?" exchanging glances with Yale. He agreed,

"Yes, I think that would be a good idea."

Bess indicated to Danziger, "I'll get them cleaned up then send them back to you. I think they could use some rest. Don't worry - I won't let them out of my sight. Come on guys." She put an arm about each boy, who did not resist her efforts.

XXXXXX

The door of the medical lab was flung open in haste by Dr. Heller who was followed closely by Alonzo. He could sense her growing enthusiasm so he urged, "Tell me what all this means."

She took a breath to calm herself then proceeded to explain, "When Yale and I spoke earlier, we came up with the idea that the disease could have been caused by some sort of contaminant - some small molecule other than a virus or bacteria." The pilot nodded so she continued, "I performed spectrometric analysis on various samples from the corpses. The idea being that altered levels of a metabolite or the presence of novel molecules could be disrupting biochemical pathways. My results showed that those corpses had a very high concentration of a particular compound, one so small that Elizabeth would never have been able to detect it. Ordinarily, our bodies could deal with this substance in low concentrations but if the body were to retain higher levels of it, problems could result."

Alonzo smiled and tentatively stated, "So you've identified what caused the disease?"

She nodded vigorously.

"Can you develop a cure?"

"I think I can - now that I know what the compound is." She was so ecstatic that she was stumbling about the lab. Gesturing to some samples, she added, "This is it. I've incubated three samples. One from an Independence corpse, one from Devon's tissue samples, and one of my own as a control. If Devon's body shows the levels of this compound which I'm anticipating - I can cure her." Tears almost came to her eyes. Was her long journey almost over?

Her hands trembled as she injected a sample into the instrument. "Here's the Independence sample" A large peak showed on the computer monitor - indicating very high levels of the compound.

"Here's the next sample." A small blip was present.

Alonzo looked to Julia.

"That must be the control - my sample. Here goes." She held her breath as she injected the final sample. A small blip appeared. Julia's eyes widened, she was devastated. She grabbed her sample vials to check the labels, only to find that the second sample had been Devon's.

XXXXXX

Danziger awoke feeling refreshed after his first night of uninterrupted sleep in a while, he had been too exhausted to have any of those nightmares. He was comforted to see his daughter lying close by his side. She was pretty shaken up by her experience - who could blame her, but she was going to be okay. He turned to check on the boys. Uly was fast asleep but Paul's cot was empty.

Since sun light was creeping into the tent, he figured he better get up and organize camp business. He needed to see what was going on with Julia's work and determine how much longer they would have to stay at that deserted settlement. New Pacifica wasn't getting any closer. And after the kid's experience, he wanted out of there as soon as possible to get away from those crazy Terrians.

Bitter anger rose in him, he was infuriated that those diggers had frightened his little girl so badly. As if the nightmares hadn't been enough, she had cried herself to sleep in his arms last night. Still, he wasn't pleased by his overpowering urge to grab a Mag-Pro and blast away at the creatures.

_What has this planet done to me?_ he wondered.

Paul's absence nagged at him, so as he pulled on a shirt he decided to locate the young boy first. Some other Edenites were already up and about. Despite the uproar with missing children and the ongoing investigation of the settlement, regular chores still had to be done - meals made, food and firewood collected, equipment maintained. He nodded greetings to his crew mates as he scanned the campsite for the young boy.

Becoming more concerned, he asked Bess who was stirring a pot of oatmeal if she had seen him. She directed him to the area just south of camp where she had seen the boy wander off several minutes ago. He headed in that direction and found him sitting on a fallen log with his rather large pack by his side. He sat down beside the boy,

"True tells me you saved she and Uly."

Paul shrugged nonchalantly.

The older man replied with pride, "That was a brave thing to do. Those Terrians sounded frightening."

With a quiver in his voice the boy replied, "They were."

Danziger suddenly realized that despite his outward bravado, Paul was much younger than he had originally thought. He reached over and drew the boy close to him in a hug, which the boy did not resist, "I'm glad you're okay and you're back with us."

Paul uncomfortably replied, "Umm...I have to go."

Taken aback, Danziger asked, "What are you talking about? Are you sure you're not sick?" reaching to test the boy's forehead.

Paul ducked, "No, I really have to go. My parents are probably worried sick."

_Why does he still cling to the idea that his parents are alive?_ Danziger thought with annoyance. Humoring the boy he replied, "Oh, we wouldn't want to worry them. Where are they?"

Thrusting out his chin in a determined fashion, the boy defiantly claimed, "You can't go there."

John was shocked, _He means it. He's really going to leave._ As he held the young boy, something about his eyes, his tone of voice struck him.

/"_I considered your opinion, I just..."_

_"Want to do it your way"/_

Even that determined manner in which Paul insisted he was going to do something - regardless of what anyone else thought.

_/"I am not going anywhere. If you want to leave, that's your business but you'll leave without me."/_

Devon - it reminded him of Devon. Even the shape of his mouth and color of his eyes resembled hers. He pulled the boy even closer to him, "I'll miss you."

The boy wrapped his arms about the older man, hugging him tightly, "You'll see me again - I promise."

Then he stood and walked up the bluff. A Terrian appeared. Not out of the ground, but apparently out of thin air. Paul and the Terrian clasped hands and they both disappeared in the same fashion.

Danziger dashed over to the area to try to figure out where they had gone. Was he losing his mind? Was this just a dream?

If Devon had been there, she could have told him that, due to their relationship with the planet, the Terrians have access to time in a manner unknown to humans. At the BioDome, she had heard the voices of the previous occupants and witnessed Mary's reunion with her long dead mother. In fact, most of the Eden Advance crew were currently experiencing the anguish of the sick Independence settlers broadcasted as a nightly feature in their dreams.

In addition, Devon's experience with an older Uly on the Dream Plane had revealed to her that the Terrians would not abuse this privilege or interfere with the natural order of events. Only the combination of a Terrain and a human who was link between the two species would dare to send an emissary back in time whose actions might alter the future.

At first a sense of loss overwhelmed him, for he already missed Paul, but after several minutes had passed - hope prevailed within him. The knowledge rang true in his heart.

_That's gotta be Devon's son. She's gonna live. I don't know when, but we will be able to cure her._ His cheeks became flushed and a silly grin covered his face. Staring at the spot where the boy had disappeared, he wondered how he was going to explain what had happened without looking like a complete imbecile.

But he didn't care. They were going to be able to cure her. There was hope after all.

Unbeknownst to Danziger, True had crept up behind him,

"Where's Paul?"

"He had to leave."

"Oh, that's right. He told us that before. Know who he reminded me of Dad?"

Danziger was only half listening, _Devon's son_ kept resounding in his head, "Who, True-girl?"

"You."

---(To be continued in Stepping Stones: Ethical Considerations Chapters 9&10)


	9. Ethical considerations Part 1

Stepping Stones

by Joan Powers

Chapter 9 Ethical Considerations Part 1

(1) In Stepping Stones: Hope, Julia was finally able to identify the cause of death of the Independence settlers. In addition, the kids were safely returned to camp, only to have Paul mysteriously disappear the next morning, before Danziger's eyes. In the opening of this section of Stepping Stones, most members of the Eden Advance are impatient to pack up and leave the deserted colony in order to continue their journey to New Pacifica.

(2) Special thanks to Vicki, Paula, Lynne and Rosa for their friendship and helpful advice.

(Alonzo Solace)

/ _Julia was heart broken. After repeating her tests multiple times - they only confirmed her initial findings that Devon didn't have the same disease as the Independence colonists. She just couldn't accept the fact that after all we had learned from the colony, she still couldn't cure Devon or even begin to diagnose her illness. I hated seeing her spirit crushed so many times by false leads. I prayed with every ounce of my being that Julia would reach out and trust me to bear her pain with her. _

_Although I was afraid to admit it aloud, I myself was pretty much resigned to the fact that our leader was no longer with us. I missed Devon just as much as the others did but sometimes no matter how hard you try to grasp at something - it always manages to slip out of reach. Maybe we had to let her go and simply have faith that the answer would present itself - in time. Perhaps we had to learn to emulate our Terrain hosts and let nature take its course./_

XXXXXX

Several members of the Eden Advance were sitting about a makeshift table at their base camp, drinking water while taking a break from their various tasks. The past few days had been stressful and labor intensive with the ongoing investigation of the settlement and the search for the children, so this day was primarily being used for catching up with regular chores and getting some much needed rest.

"So Devon doesn't have the same disease that the people at this colony had?" Baines directed his question towards Dr. Heller who was hunched over on a camp stool. The young woman nodded grimly, while biting her lower lip, her beautiful blue eyes seemingly void of expression.

Magus continued Baines's train of thought,"Then we won't contract this sickness. We're going to be okay?" The doctor again gave a curt nod. Magus was concerned by Julia's lack of emotion. Was there information that she was unaware of? Otherwise it seemed to her, "This is good news - isn't it?"

Yale stepped in for Julia, enthusiastically booming, "Of course it is. Julia has determined that this area contains a compound which would eventually make us ill. But we would have to stay here over seven years before any of its effects would be manifested. It's safe to say that we no longer need to fear Dr. Anson's warnings." Other Eden crew members who were gathered about began to cheer.

"That's some of the best news I've heard in a while. The kids are safe, we're not gonna die - at least not soon. Looks like we're on a roll here." Walman grinned broadly as he clamped Baines hardily on the back.

Drawn to the conversation Bess intruded, "I hate to bring your spirits down, but don't you guys think we better look for Paul? I haven't seen him since breakfast."

Baines glanced to Walman who gave an understanding nod then placed a hand on the woman's shoulder, "Bess, Danziger assured us that the boy was okay. Frankly I have no idea what the heck actually happened this morning, but he would never abandon a kid."

While the mechanic's lack of explanation about Paul's disappearance was decidedly odd, the two men were willing to accept his statement at face value for Danziger had more than proven his loyalty to the group over the past months.

"Unless the stress of this situation was starting to wear him down." Morgan slimily insinuated. Several heads turned to focus upon him as he approached the group. "Bess begged him for information about the whereabouts of that kid and he refused to give us any details. All he would say was that the boy had to leave and that he was safe. Does that make any sense to anybody here?"

No one responded.

"Personally, I think he's losing it. Just look at him. Don't his eyes seem strange to you?" Morgan's comments elicited only stares from his crew mates and he cringed as he heard Danziger's base tones coming from behind him,

"Shut your face Martin. Nobody's listening to your garbage. If anybody's cracking up due to these dreams, it's you buddy."

The politician cautiously crept behind his wife to use her as a shield while the larger man continued to address the group,

"I think we've gotten all we can from this place." He tried to catch Julia's expression for confirmation but her eyes seemed vacant. "It's time to go. Get back on the road. New Pacifica isn't getting any closer."

Most of the others enthusiastically indicated their agreement and Baines eagerly volunteered, "I'll start packing now. The sooner we get away from here, the sooner we can get a decent night's sleep."

Danziger concluded, "Good. Let's wrap up the loose ends and plan to leave in a day or two."

He was interrupted by Uly crying, "We can't leave!" Upon hearing the man's statement he had rushed towards the group while unceremoniously dumping his arm load of firewood on to the ground.

Danziger attempted to explain to the boy, "Uly, we've done all we can here. We've gotten all the information we can from this place and the cure for your Mom isn't here." Lowering his voice, he added, "But Champ, we will find it. Believe me, I know we will."

Bess was surprised, his voice was filled with more conviction than he had ever expressed before.

Uly continued to protest, "You don't understand. We can't leave. We have to help the Terrians"

Inwardly, the mechanic began to fume. Help those diggers who abducted his kids and nearly frightened them half to death? No thank you. To him, that subject was not open to debate.

Yet Bess was drawn to Uly's sense of urgency so she probed, "Why do we have to help them Uly? This isn't the group that healed you. All they've done is scare you."

He insisted,"Listen to me. They're sick and we have to cure them."

Baines complained, "Why don't other Terrians do it? They haven't healed your mom for us, we don't owe them anything."

Uly spoke slowly and deliberately, in a manner more befitting an adult rather than a nine year old boy, "We have to. We're the ones that made them sick."

Yale turned to the boy, "What are you talking about Uly? What could we have done in the past few days to harm them?"

He explained, "I don't mean us exactly. Humans made the Terrians sick. Another tribe tried to help but some of them became sick too. They were afraid that all of the Terrians might catch the disease so this group was shut off from the others. They're in pain and they need us."

Yale reasoned, "Ulysses, we don't even know if what you are proposing is feasible. What are your thoughts Julia..?" But the young doctor had silently slipped away during the course of the conversation.

Bess tried to calm down the boy by diplomatically suggesting, "Why don't we discuss this issue more tonight - with the whole group. This is an important decision in which everyone should have input. Uly, you can share what you're learned about those Terrians with everyone then - okay?" She forced a smile as she spoke to the child, who gave a disappointed nod while the others rapidly dispersed to resume their activities.

Uly was aware that the adults were not seriously considering his request, so he decided to enlist the help of an ally or two.

XXXXXX

Julia lay stretched out on her cot, lethargically staring at the canvas walls of her tent. She shuddered to even contemplate Uly's request which was completely out of the question. She turned on to her other side to attempt to get more comfortable. Her head ached dreadfully so she closed her eyes and refused to think about the events of the past few days. The rustle of a tent flap attracted her attention, yet she didn't budge.

"Julia" the voice asked tentatively. It was Alonzo. She lay still, pretending to be asleep, fearful of what he wanted to discuss with her.

"Julia." He sank down on to the cot beside her and gently nudged her shoulder, "Come on, I know you're not asleep."

"Please, leave me alone. I'm so tired, I just want to be left alone" she mumbled weakly into her blanket.

Alonzo took a breath. This wasn't going to be easy. He knew Julia was worn out and needed rest. He hated adding to her worries but after his discussion with Uly, he felt as if he had no choice.

"Is it possible Julia? To cure the Terrians?"

She sat up, anger flashing in her eyes, "How do you propose we do that? Wave a magic wand? I can't even figure out how to cure one of our own kind. How do you expect me to be able to treat a species I know so little about? It's completely absurd!"

The pilot remembered all too well Julia's comment that the human body had more in common with a mosquito than a Terrian.

"Can't you just try? You are a doctor."

"A doctor trained to treat human beings. I could attempt to treat a cow or horse or maybe even a Grendler, whose systems are somewhat similar to ours, but Terrian physiology differs radically from ours. I have no guidelines - I wouldn't have a clue where to even start."

Alonzo rushed to volunteer, "Uly can describe all their symptoms to you. And I'll continue to search the computer data banks to see if the Independence colonists have any information that will help us. Come on Julia, we have to try."

She rapidly retorted, "Why? Why do we have to try? Do you realize the possible consequences of us blindly treating these creatures without a complete understanding of their body chemistry? We could kill them!"

He held her gaze and levelly replied, "Julia, according to Uly, they're in such anguish right now I think they would welcome death." Stunned by his words, the doctor paused and the pilot took advantage to hammer home his points, "And don't we have a moral obligation to help our neighbors? Look what they've done for us Julia. Curing Uly in itself was a miracle. Don't you think we owe them our best efforts?"

Julia spoke haltingly, feeling overwhelmed, "You don't understand Alonzo...I'm a physician, my job is to protect and preserve life. I feel badly...really badly that these Terrians are so sick and that human beings had something to do with it. And you're right that they're our neighbors and we should treat them with respect, as we want them to treat us. But...I just can't randomly treat these creatures with no logical basis for my diagnosis when my actions might directly result in their death. Alonzo, I can't live with that. Please don't ask me to do that." Tears began to slide down her cheeks so Alonzo drew her close to him and held her tightly.

XXXXXX

As Danziger hiked down the hillside, he finally caught sight of Yale with the two children who were walking by the banks of the lake. Alonzo had nearly chewed his ear off for over an hour and a half, now he was anxious to speak with Uly. He and the boy left the other two to move to a more private spot. After they settled themselves comfortably on the ground, they were both silent, neither quite sure how to express himself.

Uly mustered up his courage and stated point blank, "You don't want to help the Terrians, do you?"

Danziger was startled by his directness but he welcomed it just the same. He didn't like to play games so he plainly spoke his mind as well, "No. I think it's potentially too dangerous."

Uly stared at the man, not used to having adults speak to him as one, "What do you mean?"

"Alonzo and I have been talking. He tells me that you're the only link to this group of Terrians and that he can't reach them. And that this group is unpredictable and potentially hostile. Apparently the only way we can communicate with them in order to help them would be to let you go back into those caves all by yourself. I can't let you do that." A clearly unacceptable risk as far as he was concerned.

"But they won't hurt me. They recognize that I'm part Terrain," Uly insisted.

Still, Danziger held fast to his position, "Then why did they hold you captive for almost two days? I can't allow that to happen again."

"They only held us because it took some time for me to learn to understand them. Their illness has affected the way they communicate."

The mechanic interrupted, "Hold on there, kid. 'Lonz also tells me that you can't talk to them, you can only receive their messages."

The boy nodded. Sensing he was losing ground he changed tactics, "But don't you think it's the right thing to do? We made them sick, we should make them well."

His statement seemed incredibly child-like and simplistic to the older man, for the situation was far more complicated than that. The Eden Advance hadn't caused their sickness, why should they involve themselves in someone else's mess? And while Danziger's appreciation for the life forms on planet G889 was growing, he still had difficulty relating to the Terrians.

A thought occurred to the mechanic, "Umm...Uly, did Paul say anything to you about curing this group of Terrians?"

The boy looked blank,

"No, all he said was I would know what to do. That I should do what I think is right."

Danziger began to wonder if their actions at this junction in time would affect Devon's future and ultimately Paul's existence. He stopped himself almost immediately, he'd go nuts if he started thinking like that. Instead, he addressed a more immediate concern,

"What about your Mom? What would she think? I think she'd wring my neck if I allowed you to pursue something so dangerous."

Danziger could still remember that awful night when Uly had first been taken by the Terrians. Devon's horrified expression as she held up the pieces of his immunosuit had been permanently etched in his memory. He never wanted to see her go through that again.

Uly frowned, he realized that Danziger had an excellent point - his Mom was almost fanatical when it came to him and his safety. Yet, the day after his last birthday she had allowed him to enter the Terrian caves by the winter camp, unaccompanied. He rationalized that his mother might be willing to take some risks. But did it really matter anyway? She wasn't around to consult. She might never learn of his adventure. And this was something he felt strongly about doing.

He skirted about the question, "I don't know about that. She always felt that it was important to develop our relationship with the Terrains. She was grateful that they cured me and I think she would do whatever she could for them."

_But would she potentially risk her son's safety?_ Danziger's thoughts screamed at him. How in the world was he going to get out of this mess?

XXXXXX

The evening campfire crackled as members of the Eden Advance discussed the question of helping the Terrians. "Why are we even considering this? I don't want to stick around this place anymore." Baines commented.

Walman echoed his sentiments and added, "Besides, it's only a bunch of diggers." Several voices were raised, simultaneously objecting to his statement.

Alonzo deferred to Bess who challenged Walman, "How can you say that? We have every reason to believe that the Terrians are an intelligent life form. Look what they've done for Uly. Just because we can't understand them doesn't mean that they aren't important."

Walman rolled his eyes and Bess started to issue a sarcastic remark when Danziger interceded, "Okay everybody. Calm down. Let's stick to the facts. Uly, you want to tell everybody your thoughts?"

The boy smiled shyly and focused on his mentor Yale as he spoke, "The Terrians are sick and need our help. They don't know exactly what caused the disease but it was something that the colonists did and it's affected their ability to interact with the planet. They can't travel through the earth and they can't receive everything that they need from it. Since we made them sick, I think we ought to help them out."

Baines objected, "That sounds real nice but aren't there some risks associated with this?"

Danziger cut in, "You're absolutely right Baines. These Terrians, since they are sick, their behavior is unpredictable. Only Uly can act as a messenger due to the changes the Terrians made in him. Are we willing to allow him to take that chance? I'm not."

Uly quickly insisted, "I don't think it's as much of a risk as you're making it out to be. They didn't hurt me before. Even if it might be dangerous, it's a chance I'm willing to take."

John recognized that determined gleam in his eyes, which he had seen so many times in his mother and recently in Paul.

"Maybe Uly's Terrian attributes will protect him." Bess suggested. Turning towards the boy, "You said that they sensed your connection to them."

Uly nodded.

"And Terrians do not harm other Terrians. Mary shared that with us. He's considered one of them" Alonzo added. "Remember how much Uly was able to help them out at Moon Cross. They've helped Uly in the past, now it's our turn to maintain a good relationship with them."

With concern, Magus pointed out, "Even if Uly would be safe, won't this take time? I think we have other important priorities of our own - getting to New Pacifica." Others agreed with her, for they were anxious to move on. After Uly had first mentioned the idea of helping the Terrians, the majority of those listening to him were opposed for this reason.

However, the boy had wisely chosen his allies who had spoken privately with many individuals. Alonzo cleared his throat to gain the group's undivided attention. He spoke emphatically, hoping to better illustrate the boy's point, "I don't think you understand the seriousness of the situation here. Terrians receive all their physical and spiritual nourishment from the earth. It's their mother. Because they can't interact normally with it, the needs of their bodies for food are being met but their psyches are badly damaged. They can't dream normally. That's why there's so much rage in them. Since the earth won't accept them, they are literally trapped inside of those caves. Even worse - that means they can't die. They're condemned to a living hell which they can _never_ escape."

Morgan sat bolt upright - for the sensations of his dreams vividly came to mind. He had been experiencing part of their torture - feeling helpless and trapped, almost as if he were suffocating.

Bess glanced towards Uly as she stated, "I think we should help them. No living creature should have to endure that. Most of us wouldn't hesitate to put a suffering animal out of its misery, I think we owe the Terrians the same courtesy."

Julia had to enter her reservations, "But there's no guarantee that we can cure them. We know so little about their biochemistry. It would take time, possibly lots of time, for us to study their symptoms and try to develop a treatment. Once we started, we would be committed to staying here until we finished. We're also dealing with a complete unknown here - we could kill them by mistake. Can we live with that?"

Unexpectedly, Morgan answered her by quietly commenting, "I guess that would be better than how they're living now."

A few other points were discussed but Alonzo's description of the agony of the creatures had made a lasting impression on the members of the Eden crew. When a vote was called for, it was close but the majority had voted to assist the Terrians.

XXXXXX

Alonzo and Yale were parked in front of the main computer of the colony, poised for action. The pilot flashed his infectious fly-boy grin to the tutor and asked with excitement, "So, where do we start?" The two men were about to engage in a search for information to learn more about the Terrians and their illness.

Yale rubbed his chin, "I'm not sure. Why don't we make a plan before sorting through all those files?" Alonzo agreed. The Teacher rose to pace as he thought out loud, "I find it curious that this place became toxic both for human beings and for Terrians. It leads me to believe that there might be some key event tying the two occurrences together. Perhaps the colonist did something to affect the land which in turn harmed the Terrians. The planet retaliated, releasing the substance which accumulated in the colonist's bodies and eventually killed them. But I guess what we're specifically interested in right now are things the colonist could have done to affect the land."

Alonzo jumped in, "That's simple. Just look at how we destroyed our original Earth. Abuse of resources, improper disposal of waste products, unregulated levels of pollutants in the air and water...the possibilities are endless."

The older man chuckled, "Not necessarily. We're only dealing with one small colony here, as opposed to an entire world civilization. For example, we know that they experimented with agriculture - Marietta Anderson was a well known agricultural bioengineer. Perhaps she employed some agent as a fertilizer which inadvertently affected the land then harmed the Terrians. The chemical could have combined with another component of the soil, altering its composition and affecting the source of nutrition for these Terrians."

Catching onto his train of thought, Alonzo added,"There were also references in these files about drilling for fossil fuels for the vehicles. That could be considered violating the land. They could have destroyed or removed some crucial component. Just like when Morgan used the geolock and froze up the sun stones."

Yale reached into his backpack and withdrew a dull reddish brown stone which he tossed to Alonzo. As he examined it, Yale informed him,"True found this in the Terrian's cave."

The pilot's eyes widened, "This isn't right. Do you think these sun stones made the Terrians sick or vis versa?"

"It's hard to say. I don't fully understand the relationship between them. It could explain the odd dreams we've all been having and the anomalies in the Dream Plane that you've experienced."

Alonzo nodded then had another idea, "What about their main generator? It's nuclear powered and the waste containment field is in the vicinity of the Terrian's chambers."

Yale soberly replied, "That was one of the first options that I considered. But we checked it out thoroughly, that containment shield is intact. There were references in their logs to having trouble with the force field, but they were only minor leaks. Nothing which should have caused any damage."

Alonzo stood and exclaimed, "That's the operative word, Yale, nothing which _should _have caused any damage. That's an assumption we have to avoid. G889 is not Earth, so we shouldn't expect it to behave the same. Just because some chemical wasn't harmful to Earth doesn't mean it won't have an affect on G889."

"You're absolutely right Alonzo. So according to your logic, all of the possibilities we have mentioned cannot be ruled out. This also is a stern warning for our future - we're going to have to be very careful about how we set up our own colony and the technologies that we use. We wouldn't want something like this to happen to us."

TBC


	10. Ethical Considerations Part 2

Stepping Stones

By Joan Powers

Chapter 10 Ethical Considerations Part 2

The warmth of the sun felt comforting on Julia's back as she hiked up to Independence settlement. The empty shells of the tin box-like units depressed her, reminding her of those old West ghost towns which were so popular in the VR arcades. Even the brightness of the day did little to dispel her feelings of unrest about the place. Just before the door of the main facility, she paused then continued to stroll through the village, glancing about casually. Near a cluster of houses she discovered a grouping of large stones which served as benches so she decided to have a seat.

She had abstained from the vote the night before. She strove not to think about the situation, in which there was seemingly no escape. As a doctor, she desperately wanted to help alleviate the Terrians' suffering. On the other hand, she was not prepared to accept the responsibility for inadvertently causing their deaths. Danziger had glared angrily at her that night and also been short with her in the morning, for the vote had been very close. If she had voted against assisting the Terrians, some of the others might have been swayed to do so. Alonzo was also annoyed by her indecision, once again accusing her of being too rigid and unwilling to take chances. She couldn't please anybody these days. She looked up at the sky, trying to appreciate its beauty.

"Julia." She tried to duck, but it was too late. Bess Martin had located her and was headed directly towards her.

"Julia, I found something I think you'll want to hear."

_Oh no_ Julia groaned, _What else_?

"Bess, please, can it wait? I'm really not up for much today."

Bess continued as if the doctor had not spoken, "You'll change your mind when I tell you what I found - a gear file containing parts of Elizabeth Anson's private journal"

The doctor turned to look at Bess, "What did you say?"

"You heard me. I found their unit. The electricity hadn't been working in it so I put off checking it out until Walman could make a few adjustments. Come on."

XXXXXX

"Oh God" Julia sighed wearily. She and Bess were seated on the metal floor of what had been Elizabeth and Franklin's housing unit. She leaned back against the wall, closing her eyes. She should have figured some of it out herself, Elizabeth had given her clues. And parts of the woman's story were so similar to her own.

Bess prompted,"Are you ready for more?"

Frankly, she had heard enough, but she felt compelled to learn more of the details of how Elizabeth had dealt with her situation. Bess activated her gear and the two women huddled closer to listen in,

/ Personal log Elizabeth Anson Day 2859

_I'm such a fool. I really thought we were part of something big. A noble experiment to advance mankind. It was such a privilege to be a member of this team, entrusted with an important task - to help establish a new home for humanity. Now that seems so hopelessly naive. Life within the Council was always so safe and secure. Until recently, I never thought to question its wisdom or objectives. All my life I have been trained that one must make sacrifices for the greater good of society, that individual lives were expendable for the cause. I whole heartedly believed that, yet I never fully realized that would refer to my own life. _

_Independence colony is dying. The experiment is a failure. Yet the Council doesn't seem to care. Eve has relayed messages to us indicating that more test subjects will be sent to G889. Only to condemn them to certain death! It gives me great pain to think of more people enduring the suffering that we are now undergoing. We must prevent this at all costs. For the situation is hopeless. No matter what tests I've done, I haven't been able to isolate the virus which is gradually killing us all or even provide relief for the symptoms of this wretched disease. There is no future for our race on this planet._

Personal log Elizabeth Anson Day 2865

_We've got to do something about Eve. I don't understand how but she's managed to override her programming and has been acting out independently, with little regard for the consequences of her actions. She has deliberately disobeyed our direct orders and Franklin has been unable to alter her programming. Upon his latest attempt, she shocked him by sending a jolt of electrical current through a circuit he was examining. We have discovered that Eve has not been relaying all of the information in our reports to the Stations. We have insisted that she convey our message to the Council that this planet is uninhabitable but she refuses, claiming that will not help to accomplish the ultimate mission - domination of this planet._

_Our research team has come to a decision. With what life we have left, we're going back to the Stations. Perhaps they can diagnose our illness before it's too late - though it's doubtful. Frankly, I don't want to die here. In addition, we must petition the Council not to pursue settlement of this planet, which is certain suicide. We're going to destroy Eve, that monstrous machine, so the Council will no longer have a command link to this planet and so she cannot pervert their minds with further misinformation. After some debate we've decided that tomorrow we'll tell the Independence colonists the truth - the entire truth about our mission. We owe them that after all they've done for us. We plan to download all of the information that we've collected about this planet and about Eve, on to their computer. Those who are still cognizant may find this information useful and may welcome the challenge of trying to knock Eve out of commission, though I doubt they will be successful. In any event, Franklin's plan will accomplish our goal. No one else should have to endure the horrors that we've experienced here./_

"Julia!" A shout rang through out the settlement.

"Julia!" The doctor stuck her head out of the door of the unit and caught sight of Alonzo who sprinted to her side and panted, "Come quickly. I found something."

She gave him an understanding look, she had anticipated this after listening to excerpts of Elizabeth's journal, "I know. Let's go."

XXXXXX

It was as Julia had suspected. A complete autopsy of a Terrian. The files contained detailed information about the chemical composition of the body, anatomical arrangement of the internal organs, and other assorted details. She felt a little sick to her stomach as she examined the data.

Alonzo had to look away as well, feeling horrified by what he had uncovered. He exclaimed, "How could they do this? They're living creatures. How could they dissect them like this?"

Remembering how the Council operated and what she had almost done to Uly at one point, Julia was swift to object, "It might not be what it seems." Alonzo glared at her and Julia defensively replied,"Look what I've been doing for the past few days - cutting up human bodies."

The pilot snarled, "It's not the same."

Their discussion abruptly ended on that note, for Yale had entered with Uly and True. Julia turned to speak with them, feeling somewhat encouraged that this information might facilitate her task. "So tell me more about the Terrians' sickness Uly."

The boy paused to think, "Like I said before, their voices were all messed up - really high pitched. They were very emotional - which is definitely not like other Terrians. And their skin was all gooey."

"Describe that a little more clearly to me" she probed.

"Hmm, I guess normal Terrian's skin is kinda leathery. For the most part, pretty smooth. These Terrians - their skin looked like when you have a cut and stuff oozes out of it." Julia stifled a giggle at the boy's choice of adjectives.

True blurted out, "It's like my dream"

Uly scowled at her, annoyed at being interrupted, "What are you talking about?"

Yale prompted, "Yes True, please share with us."

Feeling a little uncomfortable with all eyes upon her and reluctant to put her nightmare into words, she tried to explain, "My dream...in my dreams, some sort of thick liquid creeps out of my body and covers it up. Then it covers my nose and mouth so I can't breath. That's usually when I wake up screaming." Yale put a comforting arm about the child.

Julia began to think aloud, "So most of the camp dreamed about the suffering of the Independence settlers, but others experienced portions of what the Terrians are feeling. Were their bodies completely coated, or was it just sticky patches?"

Uly shrugged, "I don't know. It was pretty dark in there. I think I saw both." True agreed.

Julia smiled at her young assistants, "Thanks kids, you've been very helpful."

Uly eagerly asked, "Can we help them?"

"It's too early to say Uly. I need to digest this information that's on the computer and see how your comments fit into it. Don't worry, I'll keep you posted."

XXXXXX

Danziger strove to bottle up his growing anxiety as he paced about the rocky terrace. Uly had only been in the caves for an hour, but it seemed much longer to him. The boy had taken his gear with him in order to record the physical appearance of these Terrians, and sample vials to obtain scrapings of their skin. Just how he was going to communicate this to these creatures was beyond Danziger. Unfortunately, much to the mechanic's discomfort, Uly wasn't able to transmit or receive via gear once he was in the cave.

He rammed his fist into his thigh. He should have insisted that they abort this crazy mission or at least he should have accompanied the boy. Yet Uly believed that these Terrians might harm any one other than him, thinking they were the humans who had infected them. Previously, True and Paul had been safe while they were in the cave because they were children, but a fully grown adult would certainly not emerge unharmed. He sensed the presence of Yale behind him so he commented, "She's gonna kill me."

The tutor chuckled, "John, she wouldn't have felt good about it, but she would have allowed him to go. As much as she hated to admit it, Devon knew that the Terrians were a part of her son's life and that he had certain obligations to them. Uly is the first of a new generation who needs to establish his place in the scheme of G889. She would have been right here pacing with us, if she were alive..." his voice trailed off, sounding mournful.

Danziger turned to Yale, "She's not dead, she's gonna be okay Yale. I swear to God, she's gonna come back to us."

The older man was taken aback by the mechanic's enthusiasm and the fanatical gleam in his eyes_. I wonder if this has anything to do_ _with Paul's disappearance?_ the tutor wondered. At least Danziger's hopes were restored and could help to sustain the rest of the group.

As they continued to wait, John and Yale drew near to Julia and Alonzo. Attempting to distract themselves, Yale asked, "What are your thoughts about the Terrain's sickness Julia?"

The doctor explained, "Okay, it's a long shot, but this is the picture I see. According to the data that Elizabeth collected, the Terrian's outer skin is not like ours. Although it appears to be tougher and more durable than ours, her data suggests that those cells are highly specialized and alive - while in contrast, our epidermis cells are dead. We know from the atomic wars on Earth that radiation dramatically affects living tissue, targeting rapidly developing cells in humans - such as reproductive cells and the lining of the stomach and intestine. I want to analyze those Terrian's skin cells. I'm thinking that the brief exposure to radiation due to the problems the colonist had with the nuclear waste containment field may have damaged those cells, rendering them incapable of performing their functions normally ."

Alonzo prodded, "So how could we fix that situation?"

Julia gave him a slightly exasperated look, starting to chastise him for jumping the gun, but he had heard it all before. "I suppose I might be able to synthesize a compound which would destroy the aberrant cells and allow healthy new ones to replace them."

Yale added, "Yes, there would be a large battery of agents to select from."

The changing conditions of the Earth's climate due to depletion of the ozone layer and events of atomic blasting with subsequent radioactive fallout had facilitated the development of such compounds.

Julia sought to qualify herself, "That is...assuming the diagnosis is accurate. Their skin samples may disprove my hypothesis. And then we're assuming that human pharmacological agents would act in a similar fashion on Terrians and not exhibit toxic side effects. And..."

Alonzo turned away from her as she prattled on, interrupting with impatience, "Julia, this whole thing is a gamble. Just follow your gut and do the best you can. That's all we're asking of you."

XXXXXX

Chemical formulas filled Dr. Heller's computer screen. She rapidly scrolled through the display, searching for agents that she could synthesize, given her crude selection of precursors. The skin sample had confirmed her notion that those cells had been altered. She wanted to do more exhaustive testing - altered components of the soil could have brought about the change in those cells just as easily, as well as many other variables. At that rate, she could spend a lifetime trying to accurately diagnose the problem and still have no guarantee of success.

Alonzo and Yale had encouraged her to follow her instincts and try what seemed most logical. So with some misgivings, she chose to accept her radiation damage hypothesis and planned to synthesis an agent which would target the altered skin cells. Most of these therapeutic agents attacked rapidly proliferating unspecialized cells, which fit the profile of the altered Terrian cells. Now she only prayed that the compound wouldn't interact adversely with any other bodily systems. The sound of someone clearing their throat attracted her attention, "Oh, Yale. What's going on?"

The teacher approached her. "How's the search going?"

"I'm narrowing it down. Probably be ready to synthesize an agent within a few hours and we can test it out in the morning."

Yale seemed pleased. "Julia, I've been listening to the rest of Elizabeth's journal with Bess. I thought you'd like to know - she didn't intentionally kill the Terrian she examined."

Julia responded with surprise, "What happened?"

"Apparently Eve insisted that the Council team gather more information about the native inhabitants of the planet."

Julia nodded, this sounded familiar.

"The colonists had some unfortunate encounters with Grendlers stealing food and supplies, so they had ample opportunity to learn about that G889 species. Yet the colonists had limited contact with the Terrians. Dissatisfied by their lack of information, Eve demanded that the research team use more aggressive measures to learn about these creatures. Since the Terrians indigenous to this location were ill and quarantined within their chambers at that point in time, the Council team obtained one of the vehicles to drive to coordinates specified by Eve. Of course, they gave the Independence settlers a different explanation - geological surveys, I believe."

Once again, the doctor gave an understanding nod.

"Upon locating the small tribe of Terrians, the scientists set up camp and studied the group from a distance. These Terrians, having never seen humans, were curious so they approached our group. One came extremely close to Elizabeth, startling her. She panicked and injected him with a sedaderm to subdue him. Her intention was to study him to learn about his physiology. Unfortunately, the sedative did more than put him to sleep, it killed him."

Julia swallowed hard, "Oh my." She could only imagine how Elizabeth felt. The woman's logs had indicated while she had no love for the Terrians, her respect for them was great. She had begun to question whether it was right to interfere with these mysterious creatures and their planet. Julia silently thanked God that the vision of the Terrian/Alonzo had prevented her from making such a blunder that night she had been about to harvest Uly's pineal gland.

"Julia, those Council scientists were afraid of Eve."

Engrossed in her own thoughts, she responded slowly, "What?" Then she remembered Elizabeth's comments about Eve acting independently.

Yale continued, "I wonder. If Eve was able to crash their ship and create Reilly to communicate with us, what else might she be capable of? She's still up there and she could be a formidable enemy."

XXXXXX

Out of habit, Julia was examining one of Devon's tissue slides under her microscope. She laughed at herself, what was she expecting to find? She had practically memorized their morphology, almost seeing them in her sleep. Why did she foolishly expect something new to pop out at her?

Uly had delivered the treatment compound in the form of an ointment to the Terrians the day before. Now all they could do was wait. Danziger had sent Baines and Walman ahead to scout their route, figuring on using their time as wisely as possible. In a day or two, Uly would venture back to visit their patient and examine his progress. Nearly staggering from fatigue, the doctor stumbled onto her cot without even turning off the microscope.

_What if I made it worse?_ she tortured herself. _What if that Terrian gets sicker? What if the compound reacts differently than I expect to?_ Despite the enhanced strength of her stomach lining, it started to bunch up in knots.

_What if... _

/**Let it go**/ a faint whisper echoed in her mind.

/**Take some advice from the Terrians and let nature take its course**./

Behind her closed eyelids, she could visualize herself walking on a beach along an ocean, which resembled the eastern coastline. She watched as the waves ebbed and receded, both comforted by their steadiness and frightened by their power. Somehow they seemed to be inviting her to step in.

_But the water might be cold. And the waves are unpredictable. I could get hurt,_ she thought. When she looked down to her feet, she was surprised to discover that she was already ankle deep in the water, which was warm and soothing. That warmth beckoned to her, offering comfort.

/**Come. Open your mind to accept the possibility of what does not seem plausible**./

She waded deeper, seduced by the soft words of the unfamiliar voice, momentarily flinching as a wave crashed against her with greater strength. The water enveloped her thighs and splashed against her torso.

/ **It wasn't that bad. Come. Let go**/ the voice gently caressed, tempting her even further from the beach. The stability of the sandy shore offered a more controllable environment, but the ocean finally seduced her with the promise of its warm embrace.

/**Come to me**./

XXXXXX

Despite the depth of her sleep, a noise disturbed Julia's slumber. Her head moved sluggishly, barely registering the sound. She imagined it was Alonzo returning from guard duty. An odd high pitched 'humming' commenced. Since it continued, Julia pried an eyelid open for just a peek.

What she saw made them open completely.

It was a Terrian standing in the middle of her tent. She bolted upright as the Terrian continued to emit his unusual 'humming' which sounded different from the Terrians she had heard before. She moved to get Alonzo, but the creature laid a hand on her shoulder to stop her.

"Me? You want to talk to me?" she gasped. He remained stationary. Uncertain how to proceed, but somewhat energized by her restful interlude, she eyed the creature. As her eyes adjusted to the dim lighting in the tent, she noticed his skin...it had a pinkish quality to it.

"Oh my God! It's you!" she cried while fumbling for her diaglove. The Terrian allowed her to scan his body with it.

"Your epidermis cells are regenerating at an incredible rate. I've never seen anything like this. This isn't possible."

As she glanced at the ground she continued, "The earth. The land will accept you?" She grinned widely while gesturing frantically to the displaced dirt in her tent.

"This is how you came? And its healed you? Contact with your mother has restored you?" Her heart beat raced thunderously. They did it! She wanted to scream for joy and weep at the same time.

The Terrian motioned to her.

"What do you want?"

He beckoned for her to approach him, so she complied. Pointing out her microscope, he made motions as if she should go to it.

"Okay, now what?" she asked tentatively as she drew near it, eager to please him. He placed her face towards the visor while resting his other hand on her temple.

As she made contact with the visor, Julia's frame of reference became radically altered. Was this the Dream Plane? She had never been. The light seemed bright yet definitely artificial. She had no idea where she was, surrounded by odd colors and shapes. Yet some aspect of them seemed strangely familiar.

Her mind ticked off, _There are some white cells. And there's a macrophage. Oh my God - I'm in Devon's tissue slide!_ The doctor within her took over immediately, taking advantage of this unique view point.

_Hemoglobin seems healthy, has a normal shape and is binding oxygen properly_. A tilt of her head altered her orientation and her mere desire to examine the cells at a closer range caused the items in her field of vision to magnify. As she approached the mitochondrion in a single cell, a tiny blip caught her eye.

_What is that?_ Forces beyond her control continued to adjust her magnification of the area of interest. Within seconds, she was face to face with the blip - a foreign molecule which was wrecking havoc with her friend's body. The rings of its structure were clearly visible to her. And they were irreversibly jammed into the enzymes which produce energy for the body.

"That's it! That's what's wrong with Devon!"

---(to be concluded in Stepping Stones: Chapters 11 & 12 Resurrection ----


	11. Resurection Part 1

Stepping Stones

by Joan Powers

Chapters 11 Resurrection Part 1

**Author's Notes**:

(1) In Stepping Stones: Ethical Considerations, after the Eden crew attempted to treat the sick Terrians, a healed member of the tribe appeared to Dr. Heller to enable her to discover the cause of Devon's illness. At the opening of the final section of this story, members of the Eden Advance are discussing their plans to retrieve Devon.

(2) Special thanks to Vicki, Paula, Rosa and Lynne for their advice and continued support.

(3) This is the final installment of Stepping Stones. The series continues with Boundaries, followed by The Road Not Chosen.

(Dr. Julia Heller )

_Lately I'm reminded of a quote that faith is belief in things not seen. For after the Terrain had given me the ability to diagnose Devon's illness, I discovered that the situation was more complicated than I had imagined. The facts were undeniable, on our own we couldn't save her - it simply wasn't possible. _

_Yet before the enormity of that revelation could sink in, the Terrians communicated with Uly and Alonzo about how they could help us. Their message consisted of specific instructions and required blind faith on our part. For they informed us that in order for Devon to live, she must first die._

XXXXXX

John Danziger took another sip from his coffee mug as Alonzo and Uly continued to share the details of their joint adventure on the Dream Plane with members of the Eden crew. Many were only half awake, gathered about in a haphazard fashion, sitting on crates or logs, listening as they went through the motions of consuming breakfast.

The mechanic felt strangely ambivalent about the Terrians' offer. The evening before when Julia had grimly informed them that it would be impossible for her to cure Devon, he had not felt anger or even sorrow, only emptiness - almost as if he were hollow inside. He had lain on his back and stared at the ceiling of his tent most of the night, dozing off occasionally but never truly resting.

Trusting the Terrians in any type of joint venture was difficult for him, regardless of the bizarre aspects of their currently proposed plan. Letting Uly enter those caves by himself a few days ago to visit the hostile Terrians had pushed the limits of his comfort zone. And now the creatures wanted to shove him even further - he wasn't sure he was up to it.

However, if there were absolutely no other options for curing Devon, then he realized with some surprise that he was desperate enough to consider their ideas, no matter how crazy they seemed.

Making sure he was understanding the situation and that his lack of sleep hadn't clouded his thinking, he inquired, "Is this really necessary? This plan seems extreme."

Julia reiterated, "John, it's our only option. The compound in her body is bound irreversibly. The only agents I could introduce into her body to break up that linkage would have toxic side effects. She wouldn't survive the treatment." She spoke firmly, trying to impress upon the mechanic that despite the unorthodox nature of the Terrians' suggestions, it was all they had.

As she caught Uly's gaze, she hoped that she hadn't been too negative. All this talk about his mother's condition had to be stressful. Yet Uly's presence was required. Since Alonzo was only beginning to understand this tribe of Terrians, Uly was their interpreter. And this was his mother's life which was being discussed. He should have a say in how to treat her.

For the most part, Uly seemed exhilarated by the Terrian's proposal. Last night he had been sullen and withdrawn, but now his face was flushed from excitement and his eyes sparkled with hope.

Julia checked, "Uly, are you okay?"

The boy gave an enthusiastic nod and Bess rested a hand lightly on his shoulder. She was sandwiched between the two children.

Julia probed a little further, "What do you think we should do?"

Uly answered her with confidence, "I think we should follow the Terrian's plan." He had no doubts about these new Terrian brothers and was anxious for his mother's return.

However, Danziger was suspicious of their motives, "Hold on. I'm confused. They wouldn't help us before, why are they offering now? What's going on here?"

Alonzo rushed to explain, "You're right. The other groups of Terrians wouldn't help us." Anger darkened Danziger's eyes and the pilot quickly continued, "I don't think they meant to be mean. It just isn't their way. Terrians don't believe in interfering with nature since they are an integral part of it. Perhaps they felt they shouldn't interfere with what they saw as the natural process of dying."

Uly wanted to convey to the group other things that the Terrians had shared with him alone over the Dream Plane. Parts of it hadn't made sense to him, but overall he had a warm, confident feeling about it, "This group of Terrians is different. Since we helped them, they say they must help us."

He couldn't describe the images that he had been shown. Flashes of the Eden Advance crew, his new friend Paul, what might have been New Pacifica colony and the Terrians had swirled about him. The only coherent thought connecting the pictures had been that this tribe owed its life to the Eden crew and the Eden crew owed/would owe its survival to this tribe. A bond had been forged between the two groups - symbolized by the emblem of a circle which repeatedly appeared in his vision.

Bess commented, "Let's do it. What other chance will we get? The arrival of the colony ship won't make a difference in this situation, right Julia?"

The doctor agreed.

Bess turned to Uly, "I am curious, why don't they plan to cure your Mom the same way they treated you? Why do we need the other steps?"

Alonzo attempted to give an explanation, "It's not the same situation. Uly is a child, while Devon is an adult. They also claim that they cannot deal with 'that which is not of their world' - what ever that means. The bottom line is that we have to do this together to be successful."

Though he had difficulty understanding this group of Terrians, he had the vague impression that they were being tested by them, determining their worthiness for continuing the relationship between the two species. He wisely kept these thoughts to himself, feeling it wouldn't be prudent to share this with the group at the current moment.

Danziger was edgy enough, he looked as if he hadn't slept well. His blonde curls were more tousled than usual and his gaze seemed unfocused. The mechanic might easily lose his temper if he felt the Terrians were playing games with him.

So Alonzo proceeded to organize the group, "Julia, do we have the drug that we need?"

She answered, "I can synthesize one within a day. That shouldn't be a problem."

With a hint of sarcasm, Morgan mentioned, "You'll have more time than that, it will take us over a month to reach the space ship."

Alonzo interrupted with some discomfort, "Um...that's not true Morgan." The politician stared at the pilot as if he were some kind of idiot, but Alonzo motioned for him to hold back his comments until he had finished talking, "That's another part of the plan. The Terrians want us to select a team of four people to return to the space ship."

Danziger leaned forward - loudly objecting, "Break up the group? That's crazy. Why can't we just travel back together?"

"We have to follow their entire plan - to the letter, for it to work," Alonzo emphasized while directing his gaze towards the other man.

In response, Danziger shook his head and half muttered to himself, "I don't like this. We should never separate the group. It's too dangerous." He remembered his promise to Devon, which he sincerely meant to keep - to keep everybody together.

Trying to reassure the man, Alonzo added, "John, according to the Terrians, the trip will take the team only four days."

The mechanic was taken aback. "You've gotta be kidding. Almost five hundred miles in four days. It isn't possible."

Uly grinned broadly, "They're going to show us how to use the spider tunnels."

A sinking sensation filled John Danziger's stomach as he closed his eyes and thought, _When will it end?_ Out loud he asked, "Who's supposed to go on this trip anyway?"

Uly replied, "We get to chose."

Getting caught up in the enthusiasm beginning to radiate from Alonzo and Uly, Julia logically reasoned, "Alonzo and Uly will have to go to communicate with the Terrians. And I'll need to be there too."

She turned to Danziger and Yale, expecting one of the two to immediately volunteer but both were silent. In fact, each man appeared to be absorbed in his own thoughts. Julia prompted, "John? Who should the fourth person be?"

He was preoccupied and dismissed her question, "Let's decide that later."

XXXXXX

Later that morning, Dr. Heller crept into the Med tent to lie down for a minute or two. She had spent a large portion of the previous evening searching her computer data banks for information about the compound in Devon's system, driven to identify the source of the molecule.

As she stretched out on her cot, she thought about the plan the Terrians had proposed. Its radical nature bothered her just as much as it did Danziger, but...what else could they do? Wasn't it Devon herself who once said, _We don't have much of a choice, do we?_

Julia chuckled remembering that moment which seemed so long ago. Almost another lifetime. Aboard the Advance ship, just before preparing Uly for cold sleep, Devon had questioned her capability as a physician, making her feel inept and horribly under qualified. She had felt like crawling into bed and pulling the covers over her head - after she had smacked Devon Adair soundly in the face.

_Things have changed_, she thought with a wry grin on her face. Her life had taken so many turns upon arriving at this planet. As she took a deep cleansing breathe, she reminded herself that most of those changes had been for the best. Following what she believed in, rather than the Council's dictates. Leading her own life. Developing lasting relationships with others.

Thoughts about Alonzo began to take over and the young doctor smiled dreamily. Before she could embark on a little harmless day dreaming, Yale poked his head into her tent,

"Julia" he spoke softly, "Are you alone?"

She rose to sit up on her cot, "Come in Yale" Immediately noticing the urgency in his voice, she asked, "More doubts about the Terrians' plan?"

He answered abruptly, "Yes, but there's something else we must discuss - privately. Perhaps we should go for a walk?" He glanced over his shoulder as if making sure that no one had overheard him.

Julia was intrigued, wondering what he was being so secretive about. She agreed and followed him outside of the camp perimeter.

After hiking silently up a rocky hill, the two paused to catch their breath.

"This good enough?" Julia turned to Yale.

He surveyed the area, "Guess it's as good as any."

Julia was growing more concerned. Yale was pale and visibly agitated. She hoped he wasn't having more problems with his mind wash, though she hadn't noticed him exhibiting any such symptoms.

The teacher began to speak, "Julia,... do you know the source of the compound in Devon's system?"

She shook her head, "No, it doesn't appear to be native to any plant life catalogued in my data banks. Although on this planet, I'm starting a new one. I'm very concerned that the rest of the group might be susceptible to this. We're going to have to locate the source as soon as possible. It will have to be our top priority after we rescue Devon."

Yale rapidly dismissed her ideas, forcefully stating, "No. Julia, this molecule is not natural, it's synthetic."

A little frightened by his harsh tone, she accepted Yale's explanation. His organic chemistry resources were certainly prodigious and far beyond her own.

With a gasp he explained, "Julia, this is a poison synthesized by the Council."

The doctor's jaw became slack and she almost whispered, "What?"

"I found some derivatives of it on the Independence computer banks. The colonists brought their research files from the Stations, even though most of them did not pursue those projects. Peter Anderson, Marietta's husband, was a synthetic chemist whose position for the Council was designing compounds similar to this - neurotoxins. Agents to be used as biological weapons."

Julia felt as if she had been punched in the stomach. She covered her face with her hand as she digested his statement.

The Council.

Would she ever escape? Would she ever truly be free? Reilly's words, _You will die running_ returned to haunt her. Maybe she had been fooling herself thinking that she could simply denounce them and live her own life.

"Are you all right Julia?"

Most of the color had drained out of her face. She nodded then squeaked, "Are you sure?"

"Yes Julia, from the structure you gave me I was able to determine that, baring some minor modifications, it was practically identical to the ones Peter Anderson synthesized. It's the same family."

She was about to ask if there were any information about reversing the effects of the toxin, then realized that Yale would have shared this at their meeting. Besides, antidotes had never been the primary focus of biological warfare research.

Bile began to rise in her throat as she pondered the implications of this discovery. Swallowing hard, she asked, "How did it get into her system Yale?"

"I'm not sure. None of the possibilities are pleasant. It could have been administered directly or perhaps indirectly via some sort of timed release mechanism. I had toyed with the idea that her bio-stat implant could have been utilized to trigger the release of this material in her system, but your data contradict that."

Feeling faint, Julia sank to sit on a nearby rock, stunned by this revelation, "Why would the Council want to kill Devon?"

Yale responded quickly, he had obviously been playing around with these thoughts over half of the night, "Many of the government officials were hostile towards her just before we left. They didn't want others to know that there might be an option other than living on the Stations. But what purpose would killing her now serve?"

Remembering how the Council worked, Julia thought she had the answer, "She's the leader. Without a leader, the people would become scared and want the safety and security that the Council proposes. Devon gets us here. After we get the colony established, they murder her, and then the group is vulnerable and might accept Council intervention more readily."

Maybe they had expected her to step in or some other agent who was arriving on the Colony ship?

The teacher was willing to accept that explanation but other aspects of the situation bothered him immensely, "That still doesn't answer how it got into her system. I have read about microscopic slow release capsules which can be implanted in the body to deliver drugs or hormones. Originally such devices were developed to deliver insulin to diabetics. Or a special lining for the capsule could have been constructed which was gradually degraded by stomach acid over an extended period of time - eventually delivering the poison."

"It could have been planted in her at the Stations, even before we even left. That type of delivery mechanism would not have been affected while we were in cold sleep, the low temperature would have impeded the action of the acids in her stomach on the capsule shell."

The other possibility sickened Julia, but she had to say it, "Unless it was administered by one of us."

The two exchanged fearful glances.

Yale responded with trembling, "Who would do such a thing? And why?"

After all they had been through, they thought they'd gotten to know their fellow crew members. Maybe they weren't aware of all of the details of each other's lives and were relative strangers to some extent, but the common struggle for survival had certainly united them.

Hadn't it?

Was there another traitor within their midst? It didn't seem possible. Every member of the Eden Advance had seemed genuinely horror stricken when Devon had collapsed.

With tears welling in her eyes, Julia responded. "I don't know."

XXXXXX

Bess stepped towards the woodpile to lay down her stack of kindling when she noticed True sitting by herself beneath a tree, several feet away from camp. Her gaze was fixed on the ground. Curious, the older woman approached the small girl, after she had deposited her bundle of sticks, "May I join you?"

Startled, True quickly glanced towards her then returned to her apparent fascination with the rocks and dirt.

Searching for a smooth area, Bess moved a few rocks then gingerly sat down on the ground beside her, "What's going on? Something bothering you?"

The girl shook her head, but it was clear to Bess that wasn't the case. Uncertain how to get the girl talking, the older woman remembered that True had seemed distant while the group was discussing their plans to retrieve Devon. "Are you worried about Devon?"

True remained inattentive.

Bess sought to reassure her, "Well, if the Terrians could heal Uly, I don't see why they wouldn't be able to heal Devon."

Still no response.

Bending closer to the girl, Bess commented, "Okay True, I give up. Want to fill me in?"

The young girl finally looked up and replied in a small voice, "I don't understand."

The melancholy tone of the child's voice tugged at Bess's heart. She was quick to respond with sympathy while resisting her impulse to reach out and comfort the girl, remembering that True didn't respond well to hugs from anyone other than her Dad. "What don't you understand?"

"Why isn't my father planning on going?"

Bess's mouth fell shut. She wasn't sure about that herself.

True continued, "I thought he'd want to be there for her." She didn't know how to put into words that she had seen a light go out within her father when Devon had collapsed, but she was convinced that he missed Devon and somehow needed her.

Bess took a guess, "Perhaps your Dad feels a responsibility to the group. He doesn't want to leave us all - especially not you."

True responded with some force, "I'm not a baby. He shouldn't have to worry about leaving me."

The emotion behind her reply suggested that they had encountered the root of her problem. Bess advised, "Maybe you should talk with your Dad. Let him know that you understand. That it's okay for him to go. Tell him you're a big girl and you'll be okay without him - for a short time, anyway."

Relief extended through out the girl's facial features. As the corners of her mouth began to turn up and she jumped up to run off to locate her father. After she had jogged several steps, she looked over her shoulder and shouted, "Thanks."

XXXXXX

A spirit of cautious optimism prevailed as the majority of the Eden crew huddled about the Dune Rail while the team prepared to leave, loading the vehicle with supplies and saying their good-byes. Julia was sternly advising Bess about first aid supplies while True good naturedly teased Uly that she wouldn't miss him while he was gone.

Only Yale and Danziger were removed from the bustle of the crowd, involved in an intense discussion, occasionally referring to several maps which were unraveled on a make shift table.

"We'll probably lose gear contact after two days. About here." Danziger pointed to the coordinates on the map. "Give us two, maybe three weeks at most, Yale. If you don't hear from us by then, you have to get the group moving. Somebody's gotta be at New Pacifica for those colonists. Can I count on you?"

Without hesitation the older man nodded, "Of course. If, God forbid, we are separated, each group will continue to travel west to presumably reunite at the colony site. We'll leave some supplies for you to pick up here."

Worry lines crinkled across John Danziger's forehead. He prayed it wouldn't come to that. But they had to make contingency plans. One lesson G889 had taught him was that things never went exactly as planned.

He had felt torn about staying with the majority of the group or going with the team to rescue Devon. He hated the idea of breaking up the Eden Advance group and was very distressed at the prospect at being separated from his little girl.

Yet, when True had tugged on his shoulder yesterday afternoon, practically insisting that he go, some of his indecision had dissipated. If their mission were unsuccessful, if they were unable to revive Devon, he felt compelled to be there - he didn't think he could live with himself otherwise.

However, the memory of Paul remained in his heart, threatening to undermine his usual pessimism. Despite himself, a growing sense of anticipation was creeping into him. He was anxious to see Devon again.

Yale interrupted Danziger's musings, "I think we've covered everything. Good luck." He reached to shake the man's hand.

As the two men's eyes met, Danziger added, "Are you sure you're okay with this?" After all, Yale had known Devon longer than any of them and was practically her surrogate father.

The teacher admonished, "We're not going to go through all that again, are we? Go. I'll see her when you get back."

XXXXXX

TBC


	12. Resurection Part 2

Stepping Stones

By Joan Powers

Chapter 12 Resurection Part 2

(Final chapter)

After several hours of driving, the scenery was just beginning to change, the terrain becoming more arid with sparser vegetation and fewer shade trees. It was a hot, humid day but the breeze created by the motion of the vehicle helped to cool the travelers.

Alonzo smiled as he turned to glance over his shoulder to the back seat of the Rail. Uly was fast asleep, with his head in Julia's lap. He chuckled, "Man, I thought he'd never conk out. He sure is wound up."

The boy had talked non-stop for hours about how happy he would be to see his mom and all that he was going to be sure to tell her.

With parental concern, Danziger added, "Maybe I better have a talk with him. There's no guarantee that this is going to work. I don't want him to get his hopes up for nothing."

The pilot chided him, "Come on Danziger, lighten up. You want to believe it's gonna work too. Otherwise you never would have consented to come." Alonzo grinned broadly as the mechanic averted his glance, suddenly becoming very interested in their surroundings.

He continued, "We have every reason to believe that this will work. The Stations had no cure for Uly. His case was hopeless. But the Terrians were able to cure him. Why shouldn't they be able to help Devon too? Just because we can't understand how something works doesn't mean we should shy away from it."

With some surprise Dr. Hellar found herself more drawn to Alonzo's argument than she had been in the past. As she brushed a stray strand of hair away from Uly's face, she had to admit to herself that she was ready to believe in another miracle.

XXXXXX

With her head against Alonzo's bare chest, Julia could sense that he had fallen asleep. She snuggled closer to him, despite the fact that the night was fairly warm and the air in their tent was a bit stuffy. After two long day of traveling, her body was tired but her mind refused to rest.

She had managed to suppress (or, let's be honest - postpone) her fears about Devon's recovery. When the four of them had completed their chores for the evening, she and Alonzo had retired to their tent to engage in some passionate lovemaking. Many times, the security of her lover's embrace and his tender attentions were all she needed to make her problem disappear.

Yet, thoughts she had managed to banish for the majority of their journey refused to be ignored any longer. As she listened to Alonzo's rhythmic breathing she wondered if there was a traitor among the Eden crew. She and Yale had agreed that they would keep the news of the Council's role in Devon's illness to themselves. If the poison had been planted at the Stations, this knowledge wouldn't serve any purpose - they couldn't alter the situation. However, if a spy was involved, she and Yale had agreed that they shouldn't tip their hand.

Julia hoped she might be able to detect the remnants of a release capsule in Devon's system to answer some of these questions, but Yale thought this was doubtful.

She hated what this knowledge was doing to her, she found herself reviewing her memory for suspicious behavior exhibited by any of the members of Eden Advance. She despised herself for subjecting these people to such intense scrutiny and also dreaded keeping this secret from Alonzo.

His trust in her after she had originally betrayed the group was the foundation of their relationship. She didn't want to jeopardize this in any way. Otherwise, she would truly be lost.

XXXXXX

During the morning of the third day of their trip, Uly recognized a rock formation which the Terrians had shown him on the Dream Plane, the land mark indicating the location of the spider tunnels. As soon as the Rail came to a halt, he anxiously climbed out to begin searching for the Terrians.

The adults lingered about the vehicle, assembling backpacks and the gear they would need to bring with them. Though none of the three had spoken out loud, some of the risks of their situation were beginning to settle in. Leaving the Rail was difficult for them, it emphasized how vulnerable they had become.

To attempt to lighten up their spirits, Alonzo began to tease Danziger, "It's all on foot from now on." He laughed uncomfortably.

Yet Uly's child-like faith held fast, "I found them - they're over here. Come on." The boy rushed back to grab Julia's hand and pulled her ahead with him.

"You okay?" Alonzo asked Danziger as he helped him adjust his backpack. He had noticed that the man seemed hesitant and he remembered that part of the mechanic's previous experience with these tunnels had not been pleasant.

John dismissed his concerns, "Yeah - of course. Let's go." He gave the pilot a friendly shove on the back and they proceeded towards the cave.

XXXXXX

As he poked at the embers of the dying camp fire with a stick, Danziger reflected upon the day. Traveling by foot had been challenging and exhausting, though not as bad as he had expected. The ground was fairly level so their only impediment had been the weight of their equipment, which was minimal. Since the weather had been so warm, they decided to leave their tents with the Rail and brought only a tarp to serve as cover from any rain.

Even though the Terrians had assisted them with their trip through the tunnels, Danziger hadn't relished the experience. He had insisted upon holding Uly securely, with both arms wrapped tightly about him, as they embarked on that venture. The boy had protested, not wanting to be treated as a baby, but his cries fell on deaf ears. Thankfully, it was an uneventful trip.

Danziger turned on a small flashlight to examine a map. According to his calculations, they should be reaching the ship any day, maybe even tomorrow. Excitement mingled with doubts inside of him.

He glanced over towards Uly, who was sitting up on his blanket.

The mechanic walked towards the boy. Crouching down beside him he asked, "Hey, what are you still doing up? Aren't you tired from all that walking?" He playfully ruffled the boy's hair.

"A little. Think we're going to get to my Mom soon?" His face lit up at the prospect.

Danziger took a breath; he wasn't sure how to deal with this. On the one hand, he was pleased that the boy had faith that this operation was going to be successful, but John Danziger had seen too many things in his own life go wrong, really wrong - for no apparent reason. He didn't want to see the boy get hurt.

Proceeding cautiously, he responded, "Yeah, Uly, I think so."

"I can't wait to see her. I've missed her so much."

Danziger answered thoughtfully, "I have too." He paused a moment to rub his temple with his hand, then grasped the boy's shoulder, "Uly, you know I want this to work. That I want your mother back just as much as you do.."

The boy interrupted, "And she's gonna come back to us - maybe even tomorrow." Noting the older man's serious expression he added, "Don't you believe in the Terrians?"

Danziger wasn't sure how to answer him, not wanting to crush his spirits or bias him with his own prejudices. Awkwardly, he continued, "It's not a matter of believing in the Terrians. It's just...Uly, things don't always go the way we want them to."

The boy was confused, "What do you mean?"

"Well, maybe the Terrians could have trouble reaching us. Or the group of Terrians by the ship might interfere with their plans. Or..." The glow in the boy's face was rapidly diminishing, so Danziger frantically employed damage control, "I'm not saying that's going to happen. Christ, I wish I could tell you that everything's gonna be fine, but I can't. Nobody knows what's going to happen until we get there.

All I want you to know is that, if by some chance we aren't able to help your mother, you'll always have a place in my family. I'll always be here for you - you won't be alone." He put his arms around the boy and hugged him tightly. "You okay, champ?"

Uly pulled back from him, giving the question thoughtful consideration, "Yeah." He gave the man another hug while softly mumbling into his chest, "Thanks."

XXXXXX

At last, the Venus class ship was in sight on the horizon. Uly became instantly re-energized - immediately springing forward and sprinting towards the ship at full speed with Alonzo following closely behind him. Danziger and Dr. Heller proceeded at a slower pace, laden down by their backpacks along with their thoughts.

Julia began to obsess, _What if the Terrians don't honor their word? I have practically no medical supplies or equipment. What if it doesn't work? What kind of a doctor am I to consent to such a crazy treatment_? She could only imagine the looks of disapproval that Dr. Vasquez would give her when he arrived on the colony ship.

A quiet voice within her reminded her, _It's the only way. You must have faith._

With some embarrassment, Danziger tried to dismiss his sense of nausea which grew stronger with each of his steps closer to the ship. His dream or more aptly, his nightmare...he was finally confronting it. Would she be there waiting? Or would the ship's power system have failed and her body have decayed? Or had some Grendlers or convicts come by and cruelly stolen her body? He took a deep breath to steady himself as he and Julia walked slowly but steadily towards the craft.

Several minutes later, they reached the hatch. Alonzo and Uly had rushed to open it and had already eagerly clambered into its chamber. Danziger motioned for Julia to enter first, and then he cautiously followed.

_Come on. This is silly. It's just a dream. She's gonna be there. She has to be there. You'll feel better when you see her_. He took another deep breath as he climbed the last rung in the ladder and turned towards her crypt.

Julia had begun to press the control pad buttons to open her chamber. Devon appeared just as she had been; he heaved a sigh of relief. But the tension in his chest remained. He asked Julia, "Shouldn't we wait on the Terrians?"

His words struck the doctor heavily. It went against everything in her being not to wait. But they had to follow instructions _exactly_. Upon arriving at the ship, they were to release her from the crypt, bring her outdoors and administer the binding agent. Then wait.

As Devon's ice cold body stiffly tumbled out of the cold sleep crypt, Danziger rushed to grab her. Uly stayed close by, frowning with disappointment that his mother was not conscious.

With Alonzo's assistance, Danziger proceeded to carry Devon out of the ship then laid her body on top of a blanket on the ground. Then he positioned himself behind her head, resting it against his knees and he used his hands to support her neck. The coolness of her skin gave him an eerie sensation.

As Julia searched her bags for the drug and her syringe, Uly parked himself down right beside his mother. The three adults quickly exchanged terse looks.

After Uly had fallen asleep last night, they had debated if it was appropriate for him to be present. The drug Julia was giving his mother would alter the chemical that was poisoning her body, destroying its linkage to vital enzymes within her. And it would also have some nasty side effects, which would kill her - possibly within minutes. They had discussed what the impact of that event might be on such a young boy.

In the end, they decided that nothing in Uly's life would be ever be _normal_ and he deserved to know the truth. Alonzo agreed to keep an eye on him during the procedure.

"Okay, here goes" Julia stated with a quiver in her voice as she administered the drug. After the hiss of the hypodermic, all was quite. She closed her eyes to try to relax, _Where are the Terrians?_

Alonzo attempted to clear his head to signal to the Terrains about their whereabouts.

Uly was becoming frightened. His mother seemed so pale and stiff, so...lifeless. He strove to maintain his faith in his new Terrian brothers. They would appear soon, he assured himself.

Danziger lacked Uly's confidence, as they waited he simply stared intensely at Devon as if attempting to transfer his strength to her by a matter of his will.

As minutes passed, the tension began to build. Beads of sweat became to collect on their foreheads.

Suddenly, Devon's body began to convulse violently. Julia rushed forward with her diaglove, "Her heart beat is fluctuating." The doctor was extremely frustrated - wanting to immediately stimulate her heart with the electrical unit on her diaglove, but she knew that it would prove useless. The drug she had administered to Devon was killing her.

Within a minute, the read out on Julia's diaglove became flat - Devon was dead.

Alonzo put his arm around Uly, whose terrified gaze was fixed upon his mom. The young doctor bit back a sob, looking anxiously over her shoulder for the Terrains but they were nowhere in sight.

_No. Not all this way for this - please God. No_, she thought. She struggled to maintain her composure and contain her growing panic. She couldn't bear to think that she had hastened her friend's death. She had to put on a brave face for Uly.

The four sat about Devon's rigid body, stunned - striving to control themselves. The Terrians would be here any second - right? They each told themselves. Danziger shot an accusing look towards Alonzo as if shouting 'where are they?' Uly closed his eyes and began to crouch down Terrian style to attempt to facilitate his contact with his friends.

Seconds became minutes.

Julia realized with some embarrassment that she had been holding her breath, so she strove to breathe normally. She and Alonzo exchanged looks of desperation. John Danziger continued to stare at Devon's body, his discomfort increasing exponentially as he felt her body grow colder. He still grasped her shoulder tightly, not willing to let her go yet.

Finally, as the doctor felt she could stand no more and tears began to trickle down her cheek, the earth began to rumble and several Terrians appeared from beneath the ground. The pinkish hue of their skin confirmed that they were the group from Independence settlement.

One approached Devon's body then gave Uly some fine dirt. The boy proceeded to place it upon her chest as instructed. The Terrian waved his staff over her lifeless body. Then the group waited impatiently.

Several minutes crept by.

_What kind of witchcraft is this?_ Danziger wondered as the tightness in his stomach and chest only grew worse. Would he ever have the chance to be with Devon or Paul again? He closed his eyes and silently began to pray.

_This is crazy,_ Julia thought. _It's only dirt!_ But memories of a similar visit from another Terrian came back to her, where the same such dirt had managed to alleviate a young boy's fever.

As minutes continued to pass by, she remembered that somehow the healing in that situation hadn't seemed to have taken this long to manifest itself.

Had something gone wrong?

"Why isn't she moving?" Uly turned to his Terrian friends, tears beginning to fill his eyes. The Terrain gestured back to Devon's body. She began to cough - practically choking, and Danziger helped her to turn her head to vomit the poison within her.

Julia frantically waved her diaglove over her body. "Oh my God! She's alive! They did it!" A huge smile covered her face.

Uly moved closer to his mom, who was barely conscious. She began to moan weakly as the four friends surrounded her. Her eye lids fluttered and she faintly mumbled upon seeing the doctor, "Julia?"

Devon was dazed, having trouble focusing. But even in her disoriented state, she remembered her son, "Uly? Where's Uly?" She could vaguely make out his image, but she rapidly discovered that she didn't have the strength to sit up and hold him.

However, someone behind her was supporting her, with warm strong hands, lifting her so she could embrace Uly. She half recognized Alonzo's infectious grin and returned a weak semblance of a smile.

The pilot responded, "Devon, just lie back and rest - God it is great to have you back."

XXXXXX

Alonzo and Danziger attempted to rig some sort of stretcher to transport Devon back to the spider tunnels but they had difficulty keeping her body steady on the pallet, she tended to roll about.

Finally, Danziger refused to tie her down; instead he resolutely wrapped her in a blanket and insisted on carrying her.

Alonzo and Julia had shared a bemused look behind his back - smirking at his over protective attitude towards Devon, but resisted the urge to tease the poor man. The group began their arduous two day hike to the tunnels.

Although the poison had been removed from Devon's system, she would need to rest for quite some time for her body to fully recuperate. She was so exhausted that she slept during their entire first day and night of travel.

During the second day of the trip, she came to feeling disoriented but not quite as cold. She snuggled in closer to the warmth radiating from John's body. Without opening her eyes, she knew who was carrying her. She chuckled weakly to herself, wondering if he ever put her down to rest. Knowing Danziger's stubbornness, that was highly unlikely.

Suddenly she became concerned, "John, why are we walking? Did something happen to the vehicles?"

John laughed, _Leave it to Devon to start trying to take charge as quickly as possible. _His eyes twinkled as he gazed into her worried ones and he assured her, "Do you think I would let anything happen to them? It's a long story, but we're going to get you back to camp."

"How long is the trip?" with obvious concern in her voice.

John uncomfortably cleared his throat, "Umm, We're taking those spider tunnels"

Her eyes grew wide. "What? We can't - look what happened to you last time."

He drew her closer to his chest. "Devon, trust me. The Terrains helped us out and showed us exactly what we needed to do to get back. In fact, we wouldn't have you with us today if it hadn't been for them. Go to sleep" he replied firmly, yet with tenderness.

She realized that she was in good hands and she trusted this man implicitly, for he had taken care of her beloved son, so she closed her eyes.

Within a few hours, the sound of the vacuum began to fill Devon's ears but John's arms were wrapped securely about her so she drifted back to sleep, without even opening an eye.

XXXXXX

(Devon Adair)

_Within two days we made it safely back to camp and were reunited with the rest of the Eden Advance crew. It was a joyful time of celebration. Unfortunately I was not in the best of health so I couldn't actively participate in the festivities, but I was mending. For the moment I was feeling chilled to the bone and congested but content just to be alive and have my son at my side. _

_I had been given a second chance at life by the Terrians who intervened on our behalf. It would not be until many years later that I would realize the exact extent to which both humans and Terrains had cooperated to orchestrate those events which ensured the survival of our group on this planet. Only then John would share with me the role of our son in our future, as he would hold my hand and comfort me while we anxiously awaited his return. _

_The Terrains, these creatures who claimed to have no understanding of human emotion, had deeper values of loyalty and honor than any human could ever profess. While we had learned so much about this planet and ourselves during our short time here, it was evident that we still had a lot of growing left. _

_The discovery of the empty settlement, the nightmares sent via altered Dream Plane, the mysterious young boy who lead Uly and True to the diseased Terrains, Marietta Anderson's private journal and Elizabeth's Anson turmoil - all of these events had been stepping stones which would continue to bridge the relationship between Terrains and humans._

_I was overjoyed that there was a future for us on this planet after all. It wasn't exactly ours to do with as we pleased, but with some cooperation, all of the species of this world could learn to work together and get along._

THE END

I'd love to hear if you're enjoying this.

(This story is continued in Boundaries, followed by The Road Not Chosen)


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